'Risky Strategy': Private Colleges Slash Tuition to Stay Viable

This year, the price of tuition at Bethel University’s quaint lakeside campus in St. Paul, Minnesota is $44,050.  Next year, it will be close to half of that: $25,990. The tiny school is one of dozens across the U.S. to slash prices in recent years in an effort to draw more students. Described as tuition “resets,” struggling institutions are making the moves as families increasingly question the value of high-cost degrees from anywhere except the most elite universities. The markdowns at Bethel and elsewhere highlight a fault line across higher education. While Ivy League universities and other elite schools approach $100,000 per year, a growing share of smaller, less selective private institutions are cutting costs in a bid to avoid joining the dozens of peers shutting their campus gates for good.