HereÔÇÖs How One University Is Cutting Tuition 25% In The Midst Of The Pandemic

Last month, I interviewed Tim Foster, President of Colorado Mesa University who told me about the University’s plan to hold tuition flat for the 2020-21 school year. In the weeks that followed, a growing number of institutions announced changes to their tuition and fee plans, as students (and institutions) grappled with the realities of an unprecedented academic year. Although College Pulse data suggests that some 90 percent of students expect tuition cuts for classes moved online, far fewer have announced plans to reduce the cost of tuition.

With good reason: college cost structures are complex, and relatively fixed. Institutional resilience is a powerful virtue, but it also means that significant changes come slowly, and often hard fought.

But this week, I learned that National University, a 50-year old nonprofit institution in California, was putting a plan in place that would reduce the cost of attendance by as much as 25 percent. I wanted to learn more about the motivations behind their decision - and exactly how National University would make the changes that such a dramatic cost cut required. I sat down with Dr. Michael Cunningham, chancellor of the National University System, to talk about why their university felt a renewed sense of urgency to reinvest in students and focus on affordability. 

Alison Griffin: What was the motivation behind this move? What specific changes are you making to the National University tuition structure? 

Dr. Michael Cunningham, Chancellor of the National University System: Higher education provides tremendous resilience during periods of economic uncertainty. We know from the last recession that workers without degrees are often the first fired, and the last hired. Against that backdrop, colleges and universities have a responsibility to dramatically expand access to high-quality educational experiences at the lowest possible price. 

That means finding new and creative ways to maintain quality at scale, while reducing costs. But it also demands a heightened focus on the return we provide learners by ensuring that these programs are tightly coupled with the demands of the labor market. We are incredibly fortunate in that we have a faculty corps that has embraced the sort of increased collaboration that we call a “precision” approach to education demands. They are truly putting our students first. We have the economic wherewithal and agility to move quickly as the world shifts around us. 

The plan we’re announcing will amount to roughly a 25 percent cost break that we will achieve through doubling scholarships and investing more than $30 million in need-based financial aid. That has the potential to reduce tuition for a full-time undergraduate student 25 percent from our current rate of about $13,000. For Pell-eligible students, we are effectively reducing the cost to zero.

Griffin: Was this decision affected by the COVID-19 pandemic?

Cunningham: Yes and no. The core elements of this strategy are rooted in decisions made long before the pandemic. The challenges of rising costs, shifting demographics, and rapidly evolving demands of employers are also not new. Six months ago when we were in the tightest labor market in fifty years, we still viewed this shift as critical. Events of recent months have only magnified these challenges and increased the sense of urgency with which we continue down the path we were on. 

One in five Americans working in March of 2020 are now unemployed. And most economists predict that unemployment will remain high for the foreseeable future. Economist David Autor has characterized the pandemic as an “automation forcing event.” One recent estimate suggested that up to 40 percent of jobs lost will never come back. That means that displaced workers are going to have to learn entirely new skills in order to make the transition to new and often unfamiliar industries. We think we have an important role to play in making that happen.

Griffin: What other changes to National University’s model are you pursuing?

Cunningham: In short, we are taking steps that will enable us to reduce tuition, while dramatically boosting accessibility and affordability of our most in-demand programs. We will do that by shifting to a largely asynchronous model and focusing on degree programs and certificates most closely aligned with what employers are telling us they need. Our faculty are shifting toward more collaborative work across and within departments, to design and organize around curricula that makes the process far more intuitive and seamless for learners. 

A major element of that strategy will involve holistic coaching and advising, along with significant investments in student services to support individualized instruction and support. We refer to that pairing of targeted educational experiences with high-touch coaching and advising as the “precision” model of education. It's about reducing the time to completion, and creating pathways that help learners acquire both the skills—and credentials—they need to, in most cases, achieve very specific career objectives.

Griffin: What are you most excited for following these changes? 

Cunningham: National University has followed a unique path throughout its history as a nonprofit university that is adaptive and responsive to the populations we serve. That has necessitated that we change and reinvent ourselves over time. This isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last. The precision education model holds the potential to serve more students at a lower cost, but what’s most exciting to me is the fact that we are creating a much more agile institution which will enable us to adapt and evolve even more quickly, as new challenges and opportunities present themselves in the future.

We recognize that we are blazing a new trail in many respects, but firmly believe that this is the right thing to do. Finances are not the determining factor for this decision. This is about using the resources that we have available to us to expand the reach and impact of a model that we believe can be transformative.

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