December 15, 2022

Will Your Tuition Increases Adversely Effect Enrollment?

Research says 'NO.'

Last week ISCA provided a webinar with guest presenter Terry Moore of ISM. In discussing a recent NAIS article by Mark Mitchell that suggested schools might consider lowering tuition to meet admission and financial goals, Terry referenced an extensive study conducted in 2017 by ISM, Measuring Success and NBOA. The study was titled, "Effects of Tuition Increase on Enrollment Demand."

The key results of that study were presented during the webinar but the bottomline was that changes in tuition and enrollment shared to significant relationship.

"There is an understandable concern that increasing tuition to enhance the quality of the program could drive families away. However, this study suggests that, overall, the fear is just that, fear, and that schools can increase tuition concommitant with perceived quality and expect enrollments to remain at least constant. As we have argued in the past, perceived quality of the school is what is actually driving enrollment, and should be determinant of a school’s ability to raise tuition."

The webinar recording and slide deck are available for viewing on the Member's Page of the ISCA website. To read the joint report by ISM,. NBOA and Measuring Success, see link below.

Click Here to Read Report