If tuition were free again at Rice?

Duncaroo
Sat, 26 Nov 2011 16:27:24 +0000

As you all likely know, tuition at Rice cost nothing for much of the school’s history. My question is this: if, by the courtesy of a generous mega-donor, students accepted to Rice no longer had to pay any tuition, do you think that would make more qualified high school seniors interested in coming? Or, alternatively, would that make a Rice education appear “cheap” compared to other selective private schools, and therefore less desirable?

This may sound like a no-brainer question, but people often associate higher prices with greater quality, believing that having a high sticker price must surely mean the education offered is top notch.

What do you guys think? What effect would giving full-rides to all prospective students most likely have on Rice’s “pull factor,” especially compared to peer universities like Emory, Duke, Stanford, Ivies, etc.?