Sharon Hirsh, president of Rosemont College, said that college tuition has become an artificial sticker price that most students do not end up paying. Officials described the change as a monumental shift from the current high-cost, high-discount model, which will be replaced with a low-cost, low-discount model. She announced a 43 percent reduction in tuition from $32,620 to $18,500, and a 14 percent reduction in room and board from $13,400 to $11,500 for the 2016-2017 academic year.
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But no students will see a $16,000 price cut, because the college – like many peers across the country – doled out so much aid in the past that few paid close to the sticker price.
Rosemont isn’t doing away with scholarships and grants, though. This year’s tuition is $31,520.
As Hirsh made the announcement, a graphic was displayed behind her showing the new tuition rate of $18,500.
Rosemont’s reason for resetting tuition is about more than saving current students some money.
Rosemont doesn’t have to cut staff or programs to operate on what seems like a precipitous drop in tuition and room and board revenue.
Those headwinds should encourage a wave of tuition resets, but many small private colleges are wary of slashing prices, said higher education consultant Lucie Lapovsky. “But many students won’t even look at a school with a sticker price higher than what they think they can afford…so schools may be lowering their potential demand”.
“Here is the part you might not know”, she told the gathered students. “The institutional aid will be less, but proportionate to the real price”. That is, if they can get past the $44,520 annual sticker price.
Hirsh pointed to a recent survey by Sallie Mae that showed many students and families eliminate colleges from consideration exclusively based on the price. “Instead of several months of stressful exchanges about financial aid, we’ll be having more enthusiastic, energized conversations about fields of study and future careers”. “But what you don’t realize is that t is happening everywhere nationally”. Because of scholarships and grants, a vast majority of students pay less than the school’s listed tuition.
Currently, Rosemont students who receive some aid actually pay an average of $22,571 a year, according to a new tool released by the White House last week called the College Scorecard.
Since that time, full-time traditional enrollment has grown by about 100 students, to 448, and the college has not had a deficit in several years, Hirsh said.
Marygrace Urmson, another student who was at the assembly, also said she liked the idea.
The college is thriving by other measures, Hirsh said.
“I’m really excited about this because I know it’s going to change how we approach families and how we are known. I think it says a lot that we are willing to make this change and make college more accessible”.
Rosemont is the first school in the Philadelphia region to cut so dramatically.
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Hirsh said the aid they offer students will continue because 80 percent of the money Rosemont uses for financial aid is going to students in need while most other schools give out most of their aid in merit as opposed to financial need. It is a lot easier for those elite schools to cover the full cost of attendance for lower-income students, which typically make up less than 15 percent of their population.
