Kirk Carrapeza

Tuition discounting is the practice private colleges have long used to manage revenue, cutting costs for some students while keeping a higher sticker price for others.

Now the Strata Education Foundation reports public universities facing funding caps and enrollment declines are adopting the same approach.

In the past decade, the share of undergrads at public four-year schools receiving aid rose from 49%

to 62%.

Average discount rates also jumped from 24% to 31%.

The result?

Families are left confused and skeptical about the real cost and value of college.

For NPR News, I'm Kirk Carrapeza in Boston.

Hey, good morning, Steve. What exactly are colleges saying? Well, most colleges aren't saying much, but there are some. The ones you mentioned and a handful of schools here in New England, UMass Amherst, MIT, and Wesleyan have all reached out to international students urging them to return to the U.S. before January 20th. Harvard also contacted its international students this week.

Hey, good morning, Steve. What exactly are colleges saying? Well, most colleges aren't saying much, but there are some. The ones you mentioned and a handful of schools here in New England, UMass Amherst, MIT, and Wesleyan have all reached out to international students urging them to return to the U.S. before January 20th. Harvard also contacted its international students this week.

Hey, good morning, Steve. What exactly are colleges saying? Well, most colleges aren't saying much, but there are some. The ones you mentioned and a handful of schools here in New England, UMass Amherst, MIT, and Wesleyan have all reached out to international students urging them to return to the U.S. before January 20th. Harvard also contacted its international students this week.

The college suggested those traveling overseas for the holidays, quote, budget time ahead of Martin Luther King Day, which coincidentally is also Inauguration Day.

The college suggested those traveling overseas for the holidays, quote, budget time ahead of Martin Luther King Day, which coincidentally is also Inauguration Day.

The college suggested those traveling overseas for the holidays, quote, budget time ahead of Martin Luther King Day, which coincidentally is also Inauguration Day.

Well, I think many administrators are revisiting Trump's track record. You know, in his first term, new foreign student enrollment dropped by 12 percentage points. You'll remember there was the travel ban targeting several majority Muslim countries, heightened visa scrutiny, and then in 2020, the mandate for all international students to attend classes in person, even during the pandemic.

Well, I think many administrators are revisiting Trump's track record. You know, in his first term, new foreign student enrollment dropped by 12 percentage points. You'll remember there was the travel ban targeting several majority Muslim countries, heightened visa scrutiny, and then in 2020, the mandate for all international students to attend classes in person, even during the pandemic.

Well, I think many administrators are revisiting Trump's track record. You know, in his first term, new foreign student enrollment dropped by 12 percentage points. You'll remember there was the travel ban targeting several majority Muslim countries, heightened visa scrutiny, and then in 2020, the mandate for all international students to attend classes in person, even during the pandemic.

Now, this time around, Trump is promising even stricter policies. At a rally in New Jersey this summer, he warned foreign students involved in campus protests.

Now, this time around, Trump is promising even stricter policies. At a rally in New Jersey this summer, he warned foreign students involved in campus protests.

Now, this time around, Trump is promising even stricter policies. At a rally in New Jersey this summer, he warned foreign students involved in campus protests.