Private schools trying to help as families struggle

Erin Adler, Tribune News Service

Several Minnesota private colleges have recently introduced creative efforts to prove to students and parents that they’re affordable, both in the cost of attending now — tuition, room and board and fees — and the amount of loan debt students will owe after graduation. From Winona to St. Paul, colleges and universities’ new strategies include a “no-loans” programme for Carleton College students getting financial aid, slashing the base tuition price at Concordia University, St. Paul and a St. Mary’s University of Minnesota initiative to help pay back loans post-graduation if alumni earn lower salaries.

“The cost of college is a mystery and the only thing that people have is the impression that it keeps on going up,” said Mark Kantrowitz, a college finance expert who tracks colleges’ affordability efforts. “Colleges face challenges where families are increasingly price-sensitive and focused on affordability.” Many families won’t even consider attending a school when they see the high “sticker price” listed on its website and brochures. Even if few students actually pay that amount, many people don’t know that and are scared off, college officials said. Students and families are also more resistant to taking on loans.

“It seems clear that the fear of debt is really changing students’ college choices and it’s also constraining their future options,” said Alison Byerly, Carleton College’s president.

Families are also increasingly looking at students’ outcomes after college — it’s no longer just whether they can pay the bill, but whether it’s worthwhile to enroll, Kantrowitz said, adding that the result is a general angst in society about college costs. Higher education in Minnesota — and the US — is facing significant challenges as tuition prices and student debt continue to rise. Parents are questioning the return-on-investment in a challenging job market complicated by the rise of AI. Institutions face declining federal funding, flat or declining state funding and high inflation. And the pool of traditional-aged college students is soon predicted to shrink.

“Different schools have very different strategies (to show they’re affordable) because we all have slightly different financial structures,” said Byerly, who is also the board chair of the Minnesota Private College Council. “What your strategy is will differ quite a bit depending on your market position, your resources, the type of student you’re attracting.”

One college just used the same formula a second time to lower prices. Concordia, St. Paul’s “tuition reset” brought them steadily increasing enrollment beginning in 2013. Back then, they sliced $10,000 off tuition, making it the lowest private school tuition in Minnesota at $19,700. “We needed to do something more dramatic and more student-focused, which is bring that price down,” said Eric LaMott, Concordia’s provost and chief operating officer. In September, they announced another cut, this time for $5,500. Dozens of other colleges have also made the move. Kantrowitz said 20 colleges axed their tuition in 2018, a high point for the trend.

Helping pay off loans

St. Mary’s University of Minnesota officials wanted to show prospective students that they’re accessible and they care about students before, during and after they attend classes in Winona. That includes assuring students who earn $60,000 or less after graduation that they’ll get help paying off their loans. Officials say they’re the only Minnesota school with a “loan assistance repayment programme” like the Cardinal Pledge, which started this fall but was announced last year. It’s aimed at students who are nervous about getting a good-paying job post-graduation or those who want to pursue positions that may pay less, said Michael McMahon, St. Mary’s vice president for enrollment management.

St. Mary’s will contribute to loan payments of students who take the pledge and later make salaries of $60,000 or less for as long as they’re under that threshold. There’s a sliding scale; students earning $25,000 will get their whole payment funded while those earning, say, $58,000 get 5% to 10% paid for. “We believe ... students are going to be well-prepared for employment and land a great job, but we also know sometimes annual salary might not be everything,” McMahon said. “We want to support those who feel called to careers in service, education (and) nonprofits.” About 83% of freshmen opted into the pledge, McMahon said. St. Mary’s traditional undergraduates, on average, pay $11,700 a year in total costs and the median debt of graduates is $21,500.

“We’re less concerned about how much this will cost us [than we are] the value it provides to students in helping them to alleviate their concerns,” McMahon said. “We’re confident that more students will enroll at St. Mary’s because we’re standing behind our education this way.”

This year, first-year enrollment jumped 19%. Tim Gossen, senior director of admission and early college, said he’s met with high school seniors hoping to be a baseball coach, a youth ministry worker and a K-12 teacher. All were excited about the programme.