We know that the cost and long-term value of a college education can be significant factors in the college search, and we are committed to dealing truthfully in our pricing and scholarship offerings (Proverbs 11:1). Specifically, we avoid the problematic practice of "unfunded tuition discounting."
Unfunded tuition discounting is the manipulation of the price of tuition that results in students unwittingly funding their classmates’ scholarships. This practice is used widely throughout higher education to entice students and their parents. It often diverts a student’s focus from holistic and lifelong flourishing.
Most colleges have excessive price tags by design — the foundation of the discounting framework. Like stores putting on a sale, colleges simply inflate the cost of tuition beyond the actual nonprofit, break-even cost. Then colleges lower the price of tuition by offering a scholarship, similar to a sale coupon.
They do this for two reasons: first, so that they can use parents and students as their source of scholarship funding; and second, so that they can offer "scholarships" to nearly every student. This creates a false perception of reward and often benefits the school over the student.
Every discounting college has an average discount. Students who receive a lower-than-average discount are actually helping to pay for the larger-than-average discounts offered to other students. Colleges fund the bulk of scholarship aid by transferring money from one family to another.
Grove City College sets its tuition at what it actually costs to educate a student. Our initial price is low, and from there we offer need-based and merit-based aid from our own endowment and donor gifts. We never transfer money surreptitiously from one student to another, and no student pays for another.
In an age of overpriced education and deceptive discounts, the true value of a Grove City College education is demonstrated by our impressively high retention, graduation, and career outcome rates. In addition, our alumni earnings rank in the top 14% nationally, and graduates leave here with the immeasurable treasures of uplifting friendships, exceptional critical thinking and communication skills, a solidified worldview, and a big-picture understanding of their unique callings in life.
We urge you to look beyond the discounts to discover the real value of an honestly priced education, and we invite you to apply for financial aid and scholarships.
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