Private College Tuition At An Amazing 53% Discount

Sale! Sale! Sale!

It literally feels like the mall the day after Thanksgiving they way prices are being slashed at private colleges right now.

And these tuition-slashed prices are at historic levels.

According the latest survey from the National Association of College and University Business Officers private college tuition discounts are growing even bigger every year.

Families of college-bound juniors, sophomores and even freshmen can save a small fortune if they take advantage of these discounts.

For example, a private college with a $40,000 sticker price would actually cost $18,600.  Which is cheaper then most state colleges.

This information make’s it that much more critical for families to start looking at the financial aid histories of colleges and universities as soon as possible.

Many families put this off until their child is a senior in high school.  Which is often times too late.

Because families who put off tackling this problem, miss out on potentially tens of thousands of dollars of lost financial aid that they didn’t learn how to obtain.

So what types of students are capturing these Private college discounts?

1. 36% is going to students who show a financial need.
2. 41.5% is going to students who show ZERO financial need.  (This is very interesting and something parents who won’t qualify for need based aid need to capitalize on.)
3. 22.5% is going to students who show a partial need.  (We call these category 2 families.)

So what is causing private colleges to slash prices at such historic levels?

3 major reasons…

1. The economy is still lousy. Despite what the government is telling us with their misleading statistics, unemployment is still high and inflation is eating away at the cost of all everyday goods. Families are struggling to meet basic needs and are looking for more help from colleges.
2. Private colleges are extremely nervous. They won’t be able to meet payroll and fund their programs without a steady flow of new freshmen coming in their doors every fall. And to be able to compete with other private colleges they feel they need to keep offering steep discounts. Plus, private schools have to fight the perception that state schools are the only affordable option.
3. Marketing 101 being used. Parents and consumers in general tend to think that the more a college costs, the better it is. The guys at “InsideHigherEd” made a great point about this.  They said.

“Some believe the high tuition, high aid model creates a Chivas Regal effect. So named for a high-priced Scotch whiskey, the Chivas effect suggests that people weighing the merits of two similar institutions will tend to think the more expensive one is superior. There’s also a compelling case to be made that students and their families are apt to attend high-discount institutions because they’re flattered by the offer of aid and perceive the large discount as a good deal.”

The bottom line of all this: Start early in your kids high school career in identifying colleges that are a great fit for you child and give huge price discounts.