Hi! Total tuition exchange beginner/newbie here. Can someone give me the super basics of the program? I am full time faculty at a small private college in PA that does NOT currently offer TE to our faculty (we do get free tuition for selves and dependents at our own institution) but I’ve brought it up to our union and leadership and they seem willing to explore it. I have a D25 who will be beginning at (most likely Pitt - but possibly Syracuse or Penn State) next fall. She received merit at Pitt and Syracuse- if my college begins to offer TE can I apply in a subsequent year for her or is it only when first applying? I have 2 younger children so I’m still holding out hope my college will begin to offer it as a benefit.
I am in a similar boat as you. My son who applied for TE this year is an above average student (3.9UW GPA). He was awarded with 4 TE offers (so far) but still had several denials. My daughter and I will have to go through this process next year and her GPA, extracurriculars, and involvements are not as significant as his. She has ~3.6 GPA and is interested in the bigger schools on TE which are more competitive. For her, we are definitely going to show lots, maybe even more interest in the schools she’s considering because that really helps. I mentioned Xavier and RMU (son received TE) because they are big on demonstrated interest. For her, we are also looking for TE schools that are more generous with TE awards and don’t award them particularly on grades/test scores.
1 Like
Hi. My son was awarded CIC thru Pace last year Fall25. He is an “average” student. Varsity basketball, did not submit SAT scores. He did show demonstrated interest. Ended up not going to Pace.
1 Like
I would love this list for kid #3 a couple of years down the road!
Still no word on financial appeal we sent in to Duquesne (it’s been well over a month!). D25 wants to move forward in her college process and commit to a college, but she wants to hear back from Duquesne before committing to her second choice (non-TE school). We sent emails to Duquesne asking about when/if the appeal result will be reedy, but everyone seems unsure.
1 Like
My daughter falls within the GPA range you mentioned. TE’s that she applied to and was awarded are:
-University of Indianapolis
-Mercyhurst University
-Elmhurst University
Others that she was considering (I believe she could’ve gotten TE at)
-Robert Morris University
-La Salle University
-John Carroll University
Unfortunately, she was denied at her top 3 TE schools but they were super competitive (2/3 were below 10% receive)
1 Like
Here’s our update. My home school is so good and so competitive that we didn’t spend much time thinking about / assessing TE schools.
(Admissions still pending on home school so all this may be a moot point- plus it’s a free tuition offer to a $$$ school so maybe Community College in the cards) But here’s our report:
Sarah Lawrence no TE but matched the $ with merit aid
Mount Holyoke Waitlist
Pitzer Waitlist (I love this school)
American Denied
Emerson Still pending I think
Daughter 3.8 UW 4.17 W 7 APs mostly honors. Strong writer - National Scholastic gold medal winner for writing; swim team captain
1 Like
One of my daughters is a junior in college at Seton Hall University (with TE) and she’s loving it! I have another daughter who will be graduating next year and she has been on several college visits recently. We both LOVED Fairfield University for her, and she already is dreaming of going there! I was wondering if anyone had any info or experiences with Fairfield’s TE? She is an exceptional student with wonderful grades and test scores, so I hope she has a good shot at it next year!
The tuition exchange program is an arrangement between colleges and universities that allows students to attend a participating institution at a reduced or full tuition rate. The program involves reciprocal agreements where students from one institution can attend another institution and vice versa.
There is a list of participating institutions that offer TE scholarships (Syracuse and Pitt are included, Penn State is not). To see the % of awards given out and if they consider not just first year students, you’ll have to visit the website. Emailing the schools liaison officer about the schools tuition exchange is also helpful (each school handles TE differently).
Tuition exchange scholarships are not guaranteed but if you cast a wide net with the schools you apply to, you’re likely to get at least one!
Hope this helps!
2 Likes
Syracuse Folks: my kid got his Syracuse Fine Aid offer tonight and it does not include reference to TE. I’d love to know if others did, so we can put this one to rest!
Question-- Does anyone know if there’s a difference between an “alternate” for TE and a “waitlist”? Or should my daughter reach out to the school to get clarification? While we’d love to get TE not sure a set rate at these schools would be a better alternative than community college for a year and full tuition at our very very competitive home school
Very helpful, thank you! Any idea of the cost for a college/university to participate in TE for its employees/faculty? Seems like a great benefit
I would reach out. The set rate is low, $43k, compared to most schools’ tuition rates which tend to be $60k+ from what I’ve seen. Unless they can bridge that gap with other forms of aid, that’s a large difference. A colleague of mine whose son went through the process last year found that a lot of colleges offer aid equivalent to or better than TE. For instance, the merit and aid package he was offered at RIT was higher than what he would have received if he had gotten the set rate TE.
Our financial aid offer also didn’t include TE, so I am not sure if that means it’s denied or decisions are still in process. Sorry I can’t help-
1 Like
Ugh we’ve been waiting and she got waitlisted for Loyola TE 
. I know it’s not a no…but ughhhh…It’s her #1 and she wrote a letter as well… Says she can reapply next year as well, but not sure what the chances of that would be.
1 Like
After going through it this year, I have doubts about how much showing “demonstrated interest” affects their decision, or maybe it very much depends on the school? (wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case) In our experience, we visited each school and asked for an in-person meeting with TE liaisons and department heads and, after the tours, over time we showed interest to each by asking questions etc. Each liaison was sure to mention that they don’t make the decisions - and the process at their school is cut and dry (based on academic stats). Ironically, the one offer our son received we showed the LEAST interest at, because we thought he had almost no chance based on what we were told initially about the competitiveness.
I’m sure it can’t hurt to try though - just saying in our experience it didn’t seem to help that we visited, showed interest, etc.
1 Like
@V_O for Sarah Lawrence, did you go back and ask for more merit when they didn’t get TE? Do you have any hope for the waitlisted ones? My daughter got waitlisted for TE at her #1 so trying to keep up the hope… Thanks!
Agree - doing the financial aid calculator on each site seems valuable.
That’s ok! I’m just impatient for all the waits to be over.
Interesting - you’ve had the opposite experience as we had. Only one school we looked into was over the set rate (Baylor). It seems like the TE set rate is based on nationwide averages as the average tuition nationwide at private schools is right at ~$43k. Obviously public schools are much less… even avg out-of-state cost of public schools is well under the set rate. It seems the larger and really competitive schools on the list are well above the national average, but we mostly were looking at smaller schools that have a flight program and they were almost all right at the set rate, or lower.
We didn’t have luck asking for additional merit aid. Each time it was a ‘hard’ no or … “No, we don’t revise merit aid but here is a page with a list of scholarships you can apply for.”
1 Like