Dive Summary:
- The National Association of College and University Business Officers' (NACUBO) Tuition Discounting Study found the tuition discount rate, or the "institutional grant dollars as a share of gross tuition and fee revenue," hit 45% in 2012, the highest-ever figure according to the study, up from 39.9% in 2008.
- According to the study, net tuition revenue has "essentially been flat for the last 12 years, demonstrating that increased gross tuition revenue has been given back to students in the form of aid, rather than put back into the institution."
- The average first-year aid beneficiary in 2012 got 53% of their costs covered by the college, compared to 51.7% in 2011.
From the article:
"... Most private colleges follow a high-cost, high-aid model, in which the tuition sticker price is relatively high, but most students receive some form of financial aid that brings down students' bills. Public colleges on the other hand, follow a low-cost, low-aid model, in which the sticker price is lower but there is less grant money available to students. Survey data shows prospective students can be scared off by a high sticker price and tend to dismiss those colleges without knowing net tuition cost.
Some private colleges that are rethinking the high-cost, high-aid model have opted to cut tuition in an attempt to lure price-savvy students. Though the number of colleges slashing tuition rates was relatively low, private colleges posted the lowest average tuition increase in four decades for the 2012-13 academic year. ..."
