Colleges walk an enrollment management tightrope. When tuition rises, they have to increase aid - need based and/or merit - to be able to enroll a class. I left the field three years ago, and I was finding it increasingly fatiguing to try to figure out how much to offer & to whom it should go. It’s an art, so it doesn’t always work the way we’d like. Do we keep tuition low to attract students? Or do they respond better to rising tuition (perceived worth based on price) but more aid (so the net cost is lower)? What’s the mindset of the population applying to this school? Is it low tuition they want, or do they prefer to pay the same net price due to receiving a free money scholarship/grant? Is there a big endowment for aid so that scholarships and grants can be offered? Or is the school struggling to provide the kind of aid students want/need? It’s a business, and schools have to figure out how to best present the price.
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