Kohlâs Cash - Ha!
Have to say that this article didnât share anything new. I recall reading a similar article when my D was starting to think about colleges 7 years ago.
Agree, but for those just starting out I think itâs good information.
Are you able to summarize? Article locked.
Sorry, it was unlocked for several hours for the One Great Story this week.
It just talks about the increase in âsecond tierâ colleges (beyond the top 50)offering merit money to donut hole families. That those families have come to expect merit and fewer are paying full cost now than 20 years ago. And how the practice has filtered from LACs to state schools.
One point that was amusing and true was when asked why not just lower tuition, one of the deans responded that the families like to feel like theyâre getting a bargain:)
Having a higher list price means that they can get more tuition money from the students in the bottom half of the admit class (i.e. students who were reaching for that college) who come from higher income / wealth families (who are willing to pay the higher price).
Bit of an aside, but it is well known in economics that a firm being able to charge higher prices to less price-sensitive consumers and lower prices to more price-sensitive consumers can help maximize net revenues. This can be illegal for commodities if done nakedly, pursuant to something called the Robinson-Patman Act. The Act doesnât apply to services, however, so colleges are free to do it.
Anyway, it does seem to me like a lot of parents are not aware of just how much merit money might be available, from lots of a very good colleges. So I think spreading that information is great.
Fake âmeritâ aid
" I asked the CFO of the small private college that question. He told me that several years ago, the campus asked parents if the school should just lower its sticker price to an amount that most people are paying anyway. The answer was an overwhelming âno.â Why? The higher sticker price was a sign of prestige, and they liked to brag that they were getting a merit scholarship."
Yeah, they analogize it to the department store model where the âsaleâ price is the normal price (although then sometimes they have actual sales on top of that).
Even on CC when I have sometimes used the word âdiscountâ instead of âmeritâ some postersâ feathers have been ruffled.
There are zero bragging rights on the Pickleball course or at the club to having little Johnny attend a âcheaperâ college, vs. âThey wanted him so much they are PAYING him to attendâ or some variant thereof.
Iâve heard some downright hilarious narratives about âSusie is an endowed Scholarâ at places which are known to give every kid with a GPA over 3.0 a 5K âmerit awardâ.
To each his/her own.!
Well, there are a lot of students in donut hole families who are only able to attend private or oos colleges that give enough merit to bring costs down to in state publicâs. They have the stats for more selective schools, but canât pay for them. My daughter gets merit from Clemson, most do not. Without merit, she couldnât attend (and they give her more than promised).
Funny how in my state that has a well regarded flagship that many large privates basically âmatchâ in state COA for top students through âmeritâ. Parents and HS then âbragâ about the merit their students got in attending a private school when they basically pay the same as in state for good publics. The less accomplished students/parents of course brag about getting in the privates for which they are severely over paying IMO.
HI, I agree, not new.
There should be some formula to determine within a reasonable margin, what it actually costs the school to educate a student. That should be reflected in the cost.
I agree that the fake âmeritâ is absurd, the bottom line is, can the family afford the tuition, and will the student have a valuable educational experience.
We used the NPCâs, and had a limit. We are in the lower end of the âdonut holeâ - no financial aid from Public schools, but the âmeets needâ schools were relative bargains 
We made decisions based on the bottom line, not the amount of merit, and I think that is what you live with - what you are paying, not what you are âsavingâ.
Using total operating budget/actual expenses and dividing by number of students (undergrad only) is one way one could approximate this.
Hereâs an analysis the Bowdoin orient did about 5 years ago (so, getting dated):
So thinking about this from a collegeâs perspective. Not a top tier school.
You want 250k income families. Those families will pay more than lower income folks, they are probably less likely to drop out for financial reasons, more likely to pay for the extras and might even donate a little in the long term.
Those families might be able to swing for a really pricey school, but theyâd rather not. How best to attract them? Give their kid a Deanâs Scholarship and make them feel special and give their parents a reason not to splurge for the elite school.
You also have the opportunity to charge a lot to a few wealthy families whose child maybe just squeezed into your acceptance pool or got in ED. Who probably wouldnât had they not been wealthy. You wouldnât get that group with a discount.
There are also the kids that donât make the GPA requirements to keep the merit scholarship, some schools thatâs quite high, and transfers who have limited merit in most places. Maybe they will stay and pay full price.
As an aside, my D23 has a Deanâs Scholarship that made her school much more attractive to us. 
Yes! This is what should be very public! What school spend on students. I know that money spent does not always equate with actual quality or value, but at least it is a data point to understand what you are paying for.
I just looked up my kids schools, and could not find this information (update: I found an estimate in a New York times article for my oldests school - it was reassuring ) I would love to know the same for my younger - although we are happy with the school and the cost, so would not change anything.
Would guess thereâs a pretty strong correlation between endowment per student and how much a school spends per student.
Yes, thank you - this info is available on google! I am sure you are correct - schools with higher endowments can give more financial aid, and spend more per student.
Again, money does not always equal quality and definitely cannot account for fit - but it is one data point that can shed some light on school costs vs. what people actually pay
Well endowed luxury class LACs like those listed probably spend 5+ times the money per student compared to most colleges and universities.