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Bargain for Your Tuition: Start the Bargaining With That Big Sticker Price
The Miami Herald via Yellowbrix
October 26, 2009
Oct. 25—Sure, you’ll haggle at a garage sale and bargain at the flea market, but who dickers with colleges over the price of tuition?
A few people, but many more should be, college advisors say, because schools are not turning away their advances.
“The way that the schools do it, they don’t want to call it discounting,” said Jerry Slavonia, creator of the college information website CampusExplorer.com. But a chat with an admissions counselor after a student has been accepted at a school can yield grants and scholarships that may not otherwise have been on the table.
“That’s what their endowment is for,” he said.
Slavonia’s strategy — aimed at nonprofit and for-profit universities, not public colleges — is for students to start by applying to the schools you had already planned to. The primary reasons for picking a school shouldn’t change: You want the right fit of programs, culture and geography.
Once you’ve been admitted, compare costs at the schools you would most like to attend. (One place to find these figures ischronicle.com/article/TuitionFees-2009-10/48879/.)
If College A is your favorite, but College B has a lower tuition, Slavonia said, call the admissions counselor you’ve been assigned at College A.
Tell them that you are considering other schools but tuition is an issue. Ask if they can match the price of another school on your list.
With many schools desperate for students, you may be pleasantly surprised by their answers.
EmilieB52
15 days ago
I never thought of it really, but at one point in my undergraduate degree I was planning an independent research trip to another country. I mentioned it to a professor or someone in the administrative staff of my university and they mentioned I might ask for some money for it. It was a simple application form explaining the purpose of the trip and the amount I was asking for, and they - very easily - ended up giving me an $800 grant!
I suppose this sort of conversation could be possible for other budget needs, too!
OnumahD
20 days ago
its a welcomed development,though there are still room for improvements.
QuanP2
22 days ago
it's not that you can bargain for the tuition to go down; what you're really doing is explaining to the college/university factors that they did not take into consideration (b/c you couldn't put it on the FAFSA) when they issued your financial aid award. The hope is that the institution will be empathetic and try to find private scholarships or endowments to help you out more, but they really have a limited amount of budget to work from. However, you gotta remember that the process of finding private scholarships or endowments is really your responsibility, not the school. They're just trying to help you out to the best of their ability, taken into consideration their time commitment to other tasks.
NilimaP
22 days ago
do not delete this
Alienmilam
22 days ago
I don't think it's so much them lowering the price as the counselor looking for school sponsored scholarships that didn't use up all their money that you qualify for. In most cases that's a $200 tuition fee waiver. Nothing really to switch colleges for.
netttt
23 days ago
man this is great news i didn't know you could do this
cuky1891
23 days ago
I tried this with a private school before I entered as a freshman. I had already gotten a few scholarships from the school. My parents and I tried many other possibilities with the financial advisor, but ended up empty handed. It is worth a try though.
HannahR533
23 days ago
I am a freshman in college. Can I still do this if I am already enrolled and taking classes at the school and it is a public school?
torch0874
23 days ago
I am interested to know if this really works.
HimmlerJ
23 days ago
Wow.... who knew... It never hurts to ask I guess :)
TerryR51
23 days ago
I agree with you, has this ever worked?
Aslo I never heard of anything like this.
I wish someone would update us on things like this because we could all use the little bit of extra in our pockets.
After all we are going through the recession with everyone else as well.
AvichaiT
23 days ago
Can either of you tell us if it works? :-)
DanielleV101
23 days ago
I agree with Sarah. I'm a returning student and have already attended a private college, but have been hesitant to reapply as the tuition is so expensive. I may as well try and bargain, shoot. Why not?! Thanks for this helpful tip.
SarahR1178
24 days ago
It never would've even crossed my mind to haggle colleges over tuition. The prices, I assumed, were set in stone. Thank you ver much for this article. I know I certainly benefitted from it! :-)