Wow - I just saw that Colby-Sawyer is reducing their tuition by 62 percent, starting next year. Tuition is going from $46,364 to $17,500. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a college making such a huge tuition reduction for all students! Seems like this would make it a much more attractive option for students.
Anyone visited or attended Colby-Sawyer?
Basically a drop of about $29k, lowering overall list price (including room and board, etc.) from $64k to $36k.
However, College Navigator - Colby-Sawyer College indicates that the net price students were actually paying on average was $32k for the highest parent income range, and $17k for the lowest parent income range. So the new list price is still higher than the actual net price that students were paying on average.
While the high list price with high discounts (scholarships and grants) method may increase yield by making admitted students feel loved, it may not be sufficient if the college does not get enough quality applicants due to perceived lack of value due to the high list price. So perhaps Colby-Sawyer College feels that it needs to grow its applicant pool more than it needs to raise its yield rate, and it was not getting many students attending at net prices greater than $36k anyway.
With a 93% acceptance rate and a 15% yield, they likely think that they need to try something different to keep full classes as the HS graduating class start to shrink.
I wish more colleges would do this. The way that so many colleges inflate sticker price and then give discounts is confusing and stressful for everyone. Transparency and honesty are better.
Two private colleges that “reset” tuition in recent years around us also “reset” their automatic scholarships accordingly. It may benefit some students who don’t qualify for as much merit, but for my Ds they ended up the same net price before and after. Too much for us, but being in the Midwest, some here might think a bargain at about $25K net COA.
Prior to reset they were both like Kohls- everybody got a coupon- a huge scholarship to brag about. At least they were automatic according to a chart so it was transparent.
I did not attend Colby-Sawyer, but grew up in NH, amd my dad used to work in the town it is located. Lovely campus in a cute town. Not too far to get to Boston or Montreal, also not super far from small cites in NH, as well as hiking, camping… great location lakes and mountains, and not even too far to the seacoast.
It was a women’s college until late 1980s-early 1990s I believe. If I remember correctly I was in High School when they started to admit men.
I know people who have attended. A solid liberal arts experience in a nuturing environment. Not highly selective, but offers a small college experience to students who may not be competitive for the highly selective liberal arts schools. Also offers some online and pre-professional opportunities.
Colby-Sawyer’s not the only one who has done a tuition reset.
This article mentioned St. Johns, U. of the Cumberlands, Elizabethtown, Stephens, Elmira, and flagship match programs like Oglethorpe and Robert Morris.
This article mentions St. Johns, Hiram, Central, and Drew.
I also know that Birmingham-Southern and Roanoke are two other schools that have done tuition resets. I don’t know how many were at the 62% reduction level, but resets are becoming less unheard of.
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