Right now, the demographics of young people reaching college attendance age is making the next several years a buyer’s market for purchasing a college education!
Due to the economic crisis of 2008-2009, the birth rate declined substantially. As a result colleges are finding themselves in a competitive race to fill seats. You might see this being referred to as something called a “demographic cliff”.
As a result, more and more public and private colleges are utilizing tuition discounting as a way to attract students to fill those seats. And the average discount rate is more than a 50% reduction in tuition. But how can you find those schools?
One place not to look would be in the list of elite, private, brand name colleges that we all perceive to be the cream of the crop. The Ivy/almost Ivy colleges have more than enough demand in applicants, that they don’t need to offer tuition discounts. They make up for this by being generous when helping in cases of financial need though.
But the vast majority of private, and even some public, colleges and universities are engaging in the practice of tuition discounting.
Here are a few tools that you will find useful in finding those schools:
- Tuition Tracker. This tool is sponsored by the Hechinger Report, a publication reporting on the education community. It gives you an idea of the net price of any chosen school based on your income level
- com. This website has a vast amount of data provided by the National Association of college admissions counselors. Not only does it discuss financial aid in the financial section, but it also has some wonderful statistics regarding college admission likelihood. I recommend this one highly.
- College Scorecard. Drawing off the same database as collegedata.com, this website presents academic and financial information in a more user friendly, although less detailed way. It's set up by the Department of Education.
You can also simply go to each college's website and utilize an option called their net price calculator. Some are better than others, and you will know the good ones by the number of questions they ask about finances and academics. Applying the old adage of “garbage in garbage out”, the less detail you are asked to provide, the less reliable the output.
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