The Trend Continues: More Universities To Freeze Tuition

In the past two weeks, several more universities have announced they will freeze tuition for the upcoming academic year, at least for their undergraduate students. They join dozens of other institutions – both public and private – that have already decided to not increase their tuition and fee charges, as they bid to attract new and returning students to enroll in the fall.

As was the case with many of the earlier announcements, which included major universities in Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, the latest decisions were usually premised primarily and officially on a recognition of the adverse financial impacts the coronavirus has had on students and their families.

At William & Mary, the Board of Visitors voted to not increase tuition and fees for both in-state and out-of-state undergraduate students, marking the fourth year in a row the Board has kept tuition flat for in-state undergraduate students and their families.

The Board approved the recommendation of President Katherine A. Rowe to hold tuition flat for another year. The last in-state undergraduate tuition increase at William & Mary was for the 2018-19 academic year.

“We recognize that it’s been a tough year for many William & Mary students and their families,”Rowe said. “Our decision not to increase tuition for the upcoming academic year reflects William & Mary’s continued commitment to affordability.” The decision came as something of a surprise because as recently as late January, William & Mary indicated it was considering a tuition increase of up to 3%.

Old Dominion University, another public university in Virginia, also voted late in April to accept President John R. Broderick’s recommendation to freeze tuition and mandatory fees for all students for the 2021-22 school year. It’s the third consecutive year the university has not increased tuition for in-state undergraduates and the second year in a row that it’s frozen tuition for all students, including those from out of state.

Broderick said the tuition freeze was important in light of the pandemic’s financial toll on students and their families. “We received historic General Assembly funding this year, and I believe the spirit of those allocations to higher education was aimed at doing everything possible to hold tuition during this pandemic year.”

He continued, “As a University that serves thousands of first-generation students and nearly 8,000 Pell-eligible students, cost is more than likely the number one determinant in retaining our students, and that was another important factor in my decision. In this COVID year, we had many students who have jobs to pay for schooling who had lost those positions. And as you know, many of our families not only suffered a loss of income, but a whole host of setbacks, including loss of life.”

Auburn University announced it would hold the line on tuition for the upcoming year, the first such freeze in at least 3o years at the university. A spokesperson acknowledged that a significant increase in its appropriation from the state of Alabama facilitated the decision.

On May 4, Clemson University approved a tuition and mandatory fee freeze for all in-state and out-of-state undergraduate students for the 2021-22 academic year. This is the second consecutive year that Clemson has frozen tuition.

“Through the continued investment of the South Carolina General Assembly and relief funds from the CARES Act, along with our amazing philanthropic donors, the University remains in a sound financial position,” Clemson University President Jim Clements said. “We’re thankful to our Board for taking this bold action in support of our students and their families.  This decision is another great example of how Clemson truly cares about its students.”

Although it’s still not official, the University of Tennessee also appears to be headed toward a decision to freeze its tuition for a second year in a row. That’s the recommendation of the chancellor’s advisory board to the board of trustees, which still needs to vote on the matter at an upcoming meeting.

“The proposed budget with no increase in tuition and fees represents our commitment to provide affordable access to a world-class education, especially as students and families continue to recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic,” UT-Knoxville Chancellor Donde Plowman said. “We are also grateful for the state support we receive, which helps us keep tuition flat and continue to offer the academic opportunities and college experiences that make our university special.”

Among private institutions, Briar Cliff University announced that while it would increase its tuition sticker price by 2% for next year, it would also lock in that rate for students’ remaining time at the university, subject to satisfactory academic progress.

While the spate of tuition freezes no doubt reflects a genuine concern about containing college costs during the pandemic, they are also made possible by two financial factors that seemed unlikely just a short time ago.

• First, many state economies have rebounded much more quickly from the pandemic shut-downs and slow-downs than was anticipated. As a result, state appropriations for university operations have not seen the decreases that were forecast.
• And second, many institutions may also be more willing to propose flat tuition because of the three large tranches of federal, Covid-19 stimulus funding they’ve received across the past six months.

As students make their final decisions about which college they will attend in the fall, the impact of these tuition actions will begin to be better understood. Will list price be a more determinative college-choice factor in the age of pandemic than it has been previously? Will tuition discounting be rolled back a bit at schools that are foregoing tuition increases, and will it be stepped up once again by those that are increasing their charges? Stay tuned. We will know more in just a few months.