Tuition discounts at private colleges and universities continue their decade-long climb, coinciding with increasing enrollment, according to a new report by the National Association of College and University Business Officers.
Early projections submitted by 286 private, nonprofit colleges and universities indicate that tuition discounts for first-time undergraduates during the 2024-25 academic year rose to 56.3%. That equates to 56 cents for every dollar of student tuition and fees.
NACUBO found that tuition discounts have also increased among institutions’ total undergraduate population, rising 8.1 percentage points since the 2015-16 academic year.
Furthermore, financial aid reached more than 83% of institutions’ undergraduates this past academic year.
Average enrollment among undergraduates has increased by nearly 13% over the last nine academic years and by 15% for first-time students. However, overall enrollment compared to the 2023-24 academic year has slightly decreased.
Private institutions indicated that they are using new financial aid strategies and student retention efforts to keep more students enrolled.
More from UB: The best way to get stop-outs back to college
“The NACUBO Tuition Discounting Study underscores an important kitchen-table issue: Although some families may assume that college is out of reach, there are many, many private colleges and universities across the country that offer substantial financial aid to bring down the cost of a postsecondary education,” said NACUBO President and CEO Kara Freeman.
“We urge students, parents, and policymakers to consider these findings and the effort these institutions are making to remain affordable to all students.”
The study focused on all institutional funding afforded to a student through scholarships, fellowships and other grants. Private colleges primarily funded their students’ tuition discounts through undedicated revenue sources, such as general funds, unplanned contributions and foregone revenue. Smaller resources included institutional reserves and endowment earnings.
Data collection for this report closed on Dec. 6. As a result, preliminary estimates for the 2024-25 academic year don’t take into account the Trump administration’s efforts to cancel federal research grants and contracts and policies related to foreign students.
Final numbers posted for 2023-24 indicate that tuition discount rates decreased over the year prior, which represents the first year-over-year decrease since 2015-16.
