Most schools have an enrollment deadline of May 1st. If you’re in the enviable position that you have been accepted to multiple colleges, you might also be in the most enviable position: able to now get colleges to compete financially for you. Worst case scenario, they say “no” to a tuition cost adjustment. But they might decrease the price of tuition by $1,000 to $2,000 per year (at the low end) to upwards of $10,000 per year (at the high end, especially if you can show a competing offer).
Why many colleges give or adjust financial awards
If you’re accepted, a college wants you to enroll.
Colleges are very focused on their yield rate (the percentage of admitted students who then actually enroll). If a college has an 80% yield rate, then 8 out of 10 admitted students choose that college above all others to actually enroll. That shows that the college is highly desired. If, however, a college has a 20% yield rate, then the world now knows from that number that, 8 out of 10 times, students choose not to enroll there, and the school is just a back-up somewhere on most of its admitted students’ college lists.
The yield rate is also important for the financial health of most colleges. For example, all else being equal, most colleges would rather a full-pay student enroll at a 10% discount than to lose out on 90% of those tuition dollars and dip into the waitlist for a student who will end up paying even less than 90%.
Colleges know that price is a significant factor for most families when deciding where to enroll. The most highly selective colleges (which typically have very large endowments) don’t need to compete on price, but the vast majority of colleges do.
Thus, to protect their yield rate, both for their reputations and budgetary needs, most colleges have some flexibility on price, especially for a competitive applicant, and many have funds set aside specifically for this purpose.
How to negotiate college financial aid
As long as you approach asking for a decrease to the cost of tuition as working together with the college to get to a mutual goal (that you enroll there), then there is no risk (or, for legal liability reasons, let’s say an almost zero risk) of having your offer letter rescinded. These price adjustments are discretionary, so it pays (potentially literally) to be courteous. When reaching out, always let the college know that you love the school, that you appreciate their time and consideration, and that you want to enroll there. Below are a few reasons you can provide to help justify asking for a price adjustment:
- You have a competing offer. If you have acceptance letters from peer institutions, but one costs more than the other, you can ask the more costly one (if you’d prefer to enroll there) if it would be willing to match the tuition cost of the other institution and that, if it does, you will absolutely enroll there. It does need to be a peer institution (a college is unlikely to lower its price if you have a competing offer from a significantly lower-ranked college). You also need to be honest: colleges can rescind offer letters for dishonesty, so a prospective student can only present honest competing offers (no used-car negotiating tactics here).
- Your financial circumstances have changed. Sometimes a parent was laid off or something else happened that has constrained your family’s finances. Then absolutely reach out to the college, let them know, and see if they can work with you on the cost so that you can attend.
- You will enroll there at a lower cost. If there is a college that you like but not enough to enroll at that cost, then let them know. They would actually appreciate this transparency: if their answer is “no,” then you’re no worse off (you weren’t going to enroll at that cost anyway). But this transparency at least gives the college a chance to make you an offer to turn what would otherwise be a rejection from you into an enrollment from you. Again, the more selective the college, the less likely this is to work: they have less incentive to lower their price if they can just go to their waitlist and get another student (especially full-pay students from the waitlist).
- You can make a rational, personal case for a lower tuition price. This is the least likely to work, but there’s no downside to trying. If you’re a competitive applicant (i.e. you probably didn’t barely get admitted), then the college has more incentive to try to get you to enroll, so a rational, personal appeal is more likely to work. Let them know what you love about the school, why you believe you would be an excellent fit there, and how you would not just be an excellent student but also an excellent community member and very involved in campus life. Let them know that you’re also very intentional about your future, and so you’re cognizant of the fact that graduating with X amount of debt could become a significant financial burden after college. If you can, tie in your aspirations for the future (maybe you want to pursue graduate school as well for what you hope to accomplish in your career and in life, so you’ll have more debt, etc). Again, worst case scenario, they say “no,” but even then they might point you to scholarships that you could apply for.
Colleges are increasingly competing for applicants to enroll
A college accepted you for a reason: they want you to enroll there. As we wrote about, demographic declines and decreasing demand for college have forced colleges to compete more for students. To do so, many are offering more financial awards that are not just to meet financial need. Contrary to public perception, the net price actually paid by families for college is actually declining.
That’s good news for families.
You did a lot of work to compete for your acceptance letters. As long as you’re respectful and grateful when reaching out to colleges, they might financially compete for you to enroll — sometimes potentially saving you and your family tens of thousands of dollars. If you would like any assistance, reach out to us anytime; our team at Summit Prep is always happy to help in any way that we can.
