Guest Author - D. Lynn Byrne, Ph.D.

Alan Finder and Jonathan Glater (New York Times) write that students appear to be attracted to higher education institutions with higher prices. (See In Tuition Game, Popularity Rises with Price, NY Times Online 12/12/2006). Seems a bit odd, doesn't it? Especially since most of the talk we hear related to tuition and fees is that these costs are keeping many students out of the higher education market.

Interestingly enough, the authors may have a point. But I'm not so certain that the tie between higher prices and enrollments is really related to the student's perception of greater quality. From my perspective, I think there may be something much more tangible attracting students to high priced institutions. If its not quality, what is attracting students to high priced institutions in such large numbers?

In 2001, Lee and Caroll of the National Center for Education Statistics examined the relationship between "sticker-price" (tuition and fees prior to the application of discounts and financial aid) and undergraduate enrollment. They looked at the characteristics of students enrolling in colleges with sticker prices equal to or more than $12,000 US per year and compared them to students enrolling in colleges with sticker prices of less than $12,000 US per year. The authors determined that the characteristics of both groups were very similar; but one thing stood out--the amount of financial aid received. Based on their data, the authors concluded that students with similar backgrounds will opt for higher priced colleges when financial aid is made available.

What does this tell us? I could make several inferences here. The easiest leap, of course, is that institutions charging more in tuition and fees have more dollars available to award through in-house financial aid programs. If there's a greater availability of financial aid, its likely they'll attract more students. More students mean greater enrollments. Now, these statements may or may not be entirely true, but its worth looking into. And, it makes much more sense to me than saying students see higher priced institutions as providing a higher quality of education.

That's my two cents on the topic. What do you think? Send me a note or drop a comment in the Graduate School Forum.

Until next time!

Lynn Byrne