Right - I suspect that’s the motivation, which for ME would be a turn-off. I realize, objectively at the end the dollars are the same, but subjectively I still get a negative vibe when my intelligence is insulted by someone trying to “sell” me.
Somehow my “radar” goes up automatically, looking for other schemes I didn’t catch where they might oversell.
Even for my (in that sense cynical) daughter, it would push such a college lower on her list, for being so obvious in their disguise.