NY Times, high tuition, and market position...
The Tuesday, December 12 edition of the New York Times gives prominent front page space to another story that demonstrates the power of the press to catch up to what's been happening for several years with the headline, "In New Twist on Tuition Game, Popularity Rises With the Price."
Ursinus, Notre Dame, Rice and more...
Ursinus College, "a small liberal arts institution here in the eastern Pennsylvania countryside," is the featured institution. Trustees urged the president to raise a "too low" tuition "early in 2000" and applications and enrollments have increased since then.
Other schools listed as following the same strategy include University of Notre Dame, Bryn Mawr College, Rice University, University of Richmond, and Hendrix College. These are, the Times notes, "just a few that have sharply increased tuition to match colleges they consider their rivals, while also providing more financial assistance."
The Times article seems to confirm that many families equate price with quality of education. Some, we might speculate, equate price with bragging rights about where children enroll and how much scholarship money is received.
What happened to "tution discounting"?
What the article misses is any direct mention of tuition discounting to reach or maintan a descired academic profile that otherwise would not exist at many colleges no matter who high the price is raised. The article equates "scholarships" and "financaial aid" without any distinction between need-based aid and merit aid.
And thus the important question in determining just how high a college or university stands in the competitive marketplace. How high is the discount rate compared to the other schools in the same competitive set? That's the next step for the Times to explore. A high discount level to maintain a comparable academic profile indicates lower reputation and market place position than rival schools.
Read the New York Times article at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/12/education/12tuition.html?em&ex=1166158800&en=cecc68e6045be404&ei=5087%0A