Tuition discount rate reaches 57% for private nonprofits, NACUBO says — from highereddive.com by Ben Unglesbee
Price cuts are getting even deeper for first-year undergraduates, while net tuition revenue has fallen, according to the organization.
Early data from the 2025-26 academic year shows historically deep tuition discounts getting even deeper at private nonprofit colleges, according to a study released Monday from the National Association of College and University Business Officers.
For first-time undergraduates, the tuition discount rate at these colleges is projected to reach 57.1% in the current academic year. That’s up from 54.5% from the year before, and the highest point in the past decade. For all undergraduates, the discount rate is poised to hit 51.3%, up from 50% last year and above the most recent peak at 50.8% in 2022-23.
However, revenue declines across the undergraduate body pose difficulties for tuition-dependent colleges. It “suggests that retention alone is not enough to eliminate financial strain at many tuition-dependent institutions,” NACUBO said in its report.