Universities Try to Tackle Student Debt with 'Tuition Guarantees'
"This year, when freshmen at the University of Dayton walk into their first class, they’ll already know exactly how much money they’ll spend on tuition for a college education in the next four years," due to the tuition guarantee program the school approved for the 2013-2014 school year,
Governing magazine reports. "'It gives some predictability. This is going to be what it’s going to cost for four years. It’s about transparency,' says Megan McClean, managing director of policy at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. ... It’s not a foolproof plan, however. For starters, it doesn’t really address the underlying factors that contribute to the rising cost of higher education and exploding student debt ... But the hope of the guarantee is that students will know up front what they’re going to pay. Another innovative element of the plan is that it removes student fees—charges, separate from tuition, that are usually tacked on as students enroll in specific classes—from the equation. No surprises, that’s the motto. Dayton is still an elite liberal arts university, and you’re going to pay a price for that education. But you’ll always know what that price is."