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Education Dive
Colleges pull back tuition increases as pressure to manage costs mounts
Students and advocates were already pushing for lower rates, and the current crisis amplifies their concerns.
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf
May 20, 2020
In a normal year, many colleges would raise tuition by a few percentage points to keep pace with operating costs.
But this is not a normal year.
The coronavirus pandemic has ravaged institutional finances, muddied
enrollment projections and created a question of whether students can
return to campus this fall.
And so, despite their budgets being stretched, some college leaders are
foregoing planned tuition increases, citing the strain on students and
families. As colleges' finances come into clearer view this summer,
experts predict more institutions will cancel proposed tuition hikes or
walk back those they've already approved.
The 10-campus University of California (UC) System was one of the first
to back away from a planned tuition increase, EdSource reported. New
freshmen would have seen a nearly 5% tuition hike from what students
paid the previous academic year, and subsequent classes would have been
subject to similar increases. The system's governing board said moving
forward with the plan would be inappropriate given the economic
turbulence the pandemic has created but added it could be revisited,
according to the publication.
Then, in early April, Ohio Wesleyan University announced it would nix a
3% tuition increase for the coming academic year. Its president said
the private liberal arts school wanted to support students and families
during an uncertain time.
Shortly after, Bucknell University, in Pennsylvania, canceled its 3.5%
increase. Most recently, William & Mary College, in Virginia,
reversed a 3% tuition markup for incoming, in-state undergraduates.
Tuition has climbed at public and private colleges for decades. Despite
calls to keep pricing steady in the name of affordability, many
institutions declined to do so amid lagging state support and new
operating expenses. Some colleges and systems moved to freeze tuition
shortly before the pandemic hit in the U.S., and the health crisis has
forced others to reconsider.
"In the last few months, most colleges have lost much of their pricing
power," said Robert Kelchen, a higher education professor at Seton Hall
University, in New Jersey. "The only colleges that can raise tuition
right now are the very wealthy, very elite institutions."
Reasons for abandoning the increases now are myriad. Colleges are
already concerned students won't be able to afford school because of
the economic crisis, and they recognize that upping their price may
prevent some from attending. However, Alex Bloom, associate director of
research at consulting firm EAB, doubts whether many students would opt
not to return because of a tuition increase. The pandemic limits their
options, he said, because travel and other activities are restricted.
"You can't take a gap year to do the things you wanted to do, and it's hard to substitute a job for education," Bloom said.
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