Resetting your tuition sticker price is not enough to drive enrollment—but it can play a vital role in your institution’s overall marketing and recruitment strategy.
A new analysis supported by the Strada Education Foundation reviewed 87 private nonprofit colleges that reduced tuition by at least 15% between 2011 and 2023.
The strongest results appeared among transfer students and applicants. Sixty-one percent of reset institutions increased new transfer enrollment, with two-thirds outperforming their peer institutions. Over half also increased applications.
First-time, full-time enrollment results were more mixed: 49% of schools posted gains and 53% outperformed other private colleges.
Financial results were less apparent, with a third or fewer of tuition-reset institutions increasing total net revenue or revenue from first-time, full-time students.
Your next read: Cost is now weighing more heavily on college choices
While the study yielded mixed results, tuition resets may have helped some institutions soften the blow of an increasingly difficult enrollment environment, says Lucie Lapovsky, report co-author and college financial consultant.
“This has been a tough time for higher ed with aggregate data on per-student net tuition revenue flattening or declining over the last several years,” says Lapovsky, former president of Mercy College in New York (now Mercy University). “It’s not a terrible failure if similar schools that didn’t reset their tuition had similar or worse results.”
Some 35% of reset institutions posted net tuition revenue gains that exceeded those of their peers.
Moreover, increased transfer enrollments are especially vital as colleges confront a shrinking pool of 18-year-old students, Lapovsky adds. “Transfers are where the action is, and it’s very important to see that they are much more sensitive to the price [change].”
The authors caution against viewing tuition resets as a cure-all. Successful institutions clearly communicated the initiative and paired it with stronger branding, differentiated academic programs and refined enrollment strategies.
“Institutions that treat a tuition reset as a stand-alone pricing tactic—without addressing
underlying enrollment, market-position or operational challenges—are less likely to achieve
lasting gains,” said report co-author Jacqueline King.
As the number of traditionally aged students continues to dwindle, institutions should experiment with new initiatives and adapt to a changing operational reality.
“As a consultant, I used to say, ‘Stay in your lane. Stick to your mission.’ Now, you better look outside your lane,” Lapovsky says. “Full-time undergraduate students aren’t going to support you unless you’re an elite, high-demand school, and there aren’t a whole lot of those schools left.”
