<p>Maybe its always been a dollars and cents decision to a significant degree. But it does seem that there is a syndrome operating that colleges don’t want to “devalue” or “overtly discount” their posted price, and yet are having trouble dealing with the visceral reaction of parents to the price. Some are beginning to get religion and just lower the tuition. Others lay on a bunch of extra charges to boost revenue without increasing posted tuition. Its a tricky balancing act. </p>
<p>I do think there must be some private colleges with high tuition where virtually no one pays the sticker price. And in some of those cases, the instances where they are paying full price must be for academically or behaviourly marginal admits, whose applications don’t engender a full range of choices. </p>