Pacific Northwest Association for College Admission Counseling
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IHE Webcast: Tuition Discounting at a Crossroads
Tuesday, October 08, 2019, 2:00 AM EDT
Category: Professional Development

Cut Too Deep? Tuition Discounting at a Crossroads

Date: Tuesday, October 08, 2019

Time: 02:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Duration: 1 hour

For years, college administrators and board members have closely monitored tuition discount rates at their institutions. But they haven't always been comfortable with high and often-rising discount rates. Nor have they always had easy access to important context explaining why colleges and universities discount the way they do.

These issues are likely to come to a head in today's rapidly changing higher education market. For all the attention tuition discounting receives from campus leaders and higher education experts, many report the practice causes consternation, misunderstanding and reflexive apprehension. Even those who historically have extolled discounting's benefits worry that ever-rising discount rates are starting to squeeze margins, diminish returns and bankrupt institutions. This question is being asked with increasing frequency: How long can sticker prices and discount rates keep climbing before the model reaches its breaking point?