Kevin Crockett is president and CEO of Noel-Levitz. He has consulted with more than 150 campuses on recruitment, financial aid, and strategic enrollment planning.
Last week, Kim Clark at U.S. News and World Report, contacted Noel-Levitz for some background on the article, Here Come $60,000-A-Year Colleges: Many elite colleges are about to break the $60,000 price barrier. My colleague Scott Bodfish and I provided some context and insights based on our research and experience in the field. The article makes some very good points and it got me thinking about how colleges set price. Historically, there have been five broad approaches.
• Cost-based pricing: This approach sets cost solely in the context of internal fiscal needs and tends to ignore the realities of the external marketplace. It can work effectively for institutions with strong demand.