Colleges Cut Tuition Costs

May 9th, 2013 / By Deborah J. Merritt

As the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week, four-year colleges have been increasing their tuition discounts. According to a survey conducted by the National Association of College and University Business Officers, the average discount rate rose to 45% for this year’s freshmen. On average, therefore, colleges collected a little less than half of their list-price tuition from first-year students. That steep discount caps seven straight years of deepening discounts.

This news provokes several thoughts. First, colleges are caught on the same tuition-scholarship merry-go-round that law schools ride. We raise tuition, then raise scholarships–although never quite as much as tuition. Students pay more, and everyone is confused about what tuition really is.

Second, this tuition-scholarship shuffle transfers money from some students to others. Colleges offer more need-based grants than law schools do, but they provide plenty of “merit” scholarships. Colleges purchase high SAT scores, just as law schools buy impressive LSATs. Some day, I hope, educators will look back at this era and shake their heads at the sordidness of buying scores from paper-and-pencil tests that are taught in high-priced prep courses.

Third, the steady rise in tuition discounts suggests that parents and students are reaching their limit. They either can’t pay any more for higher education or they won’t. Colleges are moderating tuition increases while offering more scholarships.

That leads to a final question: What does this portend for law schools? When these freshmen apply to law school, will they be willing to pay higher tuition because colleges gave them a bigger break? Will their families have some cash in reserve to help fund law school? Or will these price-sensitive students demand even more discounts from law schools?

Responses may differ. Some students may be willing to pay more, while others remain stingy. A lot can happen in both the economy and higher education before these freshmen apply to law school. My guess, however, is that the steadily increasing discount rate for college tuition means that students are more concerned about the value of their higher education. That means that they may examine law school more closely as an investment and that, if they decide to apply, they will expect more discounts.