Avila University said recently it will drop its tuition by about 33 percent, joining a growing list of colleges and universities reducing their sticker prices.
The Avila price slash may mean less to some than to others. With scholarships and other discounts, many students are already paying the new reduced amount. For those students, the actual savings may not change much.
But the announcement is welcome nonetheless. Avila is trying to be more transparent, offering students and parents a realistic view of what they’ll have to pay. It’s like the car dealer who sets a lower-but-firm sticker price so buyers don’t have to haggle.
Transparency and honesty are always important, but they are particularly welcome in higher education.
Because when it comes to tuition costs and benefits, the day of reckoning for colleges and universities is fast approaching.
A recent poll conducted by The Wall Street Journal and NBC News explains why. Forty-seven percent of those surveyed — almost half — said a four-year college degree is not worth the cost.
The number is even higher among young men and women. Fifty-seven percent of people between the ages of 18 and 34, the poll found, believe a college education is no longer worth the investment.
A majority of working-class Americans and a majority of Republicans think college is a waste, according to the poll.
That view is worrisome enough if you run a college or university. But it also sets off a vicious political cycle, in which voter support for higher education spending plummets. Missouri and Kansas are just two states that have slashed taxpayer subsidies for post-secondary schools in recent years.
That, in turn, has led to increased tuition costs, which further depress demand for those degrees.
Private colleges aren’t subject to the same pressure, of course. But private college costs are already sky-high, pushing those institutions out of range for many students.
“A moderate budget at a private college averaged $49,320,” a recent report said. Student loans? Total debt exceeds $1.3 trillion, a staggering number.
Colleges and universities must provide a value equation for students: What will the buyer get for the money? That starts with transparency, which Avila embraced, but it goes far beyond that.
The real cost of attendance must go down. Institutions must offer alternatives, including online courses that can reduce costs. And massive sports facilities will have to take a back seat.
Higher education deserves strong support. But colleges and universities must do a much better job of controlling costs and improving outcomes, or they will go out of business, and deservedly so.