Tuition Resets: Marketing Gimmick? Or a Viable Way to Attract New Students?

Scared off by the advertised sticker price, many students eliminate certain colleges before even applying. In response, a growing number of mainly small, private colleges are drastically lowering their published tuition price tag, or sticker price, to reflect the actual, or net, price that students pay after subtracting discounts and financial aid. While critics refer to “tuition resets” as pricing gimmicks, they’ve become increasingly common in the last decade. But do they really work? Research shows that the connection between slashing sticker prices and increased enrollment is highly variable. A study published last year found that the enrollment gains are short term rather than long term. In 2015, Utica University in New York State slashed its published tuition price by 42 percent, from $35,500 to under $20,000. Enrollment grew the first few years after the reset, from 4,463 students in the fall of 2015 to 5,258 students in the fall of 2017. Then in the fall of 2022, enrollment plummeted to 3,861 students—lower than what it was before the reset. However, according to Utica officials, enrollment numbers have rebounded this fall.