Whitworth Resets Tuition Amid Pleas for Cost Transparency

"College leaders often counter that higher education is significantly less expensive than the public believes it to be. Few students actually pay the sticker price-the full cost of tuition, which institutions must make public-thanks to federal, state and institutional grants and scholarships. This past academic year, the national discount rate for first-time, full-time undergraduates at private colleges rose to an all-time high of 56.3 percent."

"Whitworth University, a private Christian institution in Spokane, Wash., is hoping to address that sticker shock with a new tuition model. Starting next fall, it will drop the annual cost of tuition from $54,000 to $26,900 and change merit-based discounts so they're based purely on grade point average, with the scale publicly available. The recalibration is not intended to address shrinking enrollment, officials say; while Whitworth's head count fell in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, that trend began reversing in 2023."

"Instead, officials say the tuition reset is a reaction to two years of research showing that students and parents crave clearer information about the cost of college earlier in the application process. "We're removing all of the behind-the-scenes algorithms and modeling that goes on for each individual student," said Whitworth president Scott McQuilkin. "This is all about clarity, simplicity and responsiveness to families.""

Many students cite lack of affordability and doubts about degree value as drivers of declining trust in higher education. Most students do not pay published tuition because federal, state and institutional grants and scholarships reduce costs; the national discount rate for first-time, full-time undergraduates at private colleges reached 56.3 percent. Families often remain unaware of discounting and avoid institutions with high sticker prices. Whitworth University will lower published tuition to $26,900, adopt GPA-only merit discounts with a public scale, and the change follows research indicating families want clearer pricing earlier in the application process.

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