Enrollment Leaders Outline Student-Centered Principles to Improve Pricing and Enrollment Practices in Higher Ed
By Hugh T. Ferguson, NASFAA Managing Editor
A pair of resources aims to provide new approaches to capturing the value of higher education and details how confusion over college costs and financing has contributed to increased public scrutiny of postsecondary education.
On Tuesday, the Strada Foundation published findings from a recent series of surveys and developed a new resource — Student-Centered Enrollment Management Principles — to provide higher education leaders with a common reference point to ensure students and families have greater clarity and predictability around costs associated with postsecondary education.
According to Strada Foundation’s survey findings, “The Price Transparency Initiative,” students and families who are engaged with postsecondary education consider it to be important for achieving their future goals, but they also have clear concerns over affordability.
The six population groups surveyed, representing more than 5,000 participants, included: current college students; parents of current college students; current high school students who were considering attending a four-year college; parents of such students; adults aged 25 to 44 who were considering enrolling in a bachelor’s degree program; and the general population.
The report highlights five main takeaways from the surveys: students and families see value in higher education; real and perceived college costs create enrollment barriers; financial aid and costs are confusing; this confusion creates mistrust in colleges and universities; and there is a strong desire for price clarity and predictability.
The report also shows that increased clarity and predictability around college pricing are effective tools for restoring confidence in higher education, but indicates that more work is needed.
“While providing more clarity and greater transparency will help address some of the confusion, rebuilding trust also may require significant structural reforms around price modeling, financial aid packaging, and communications,” said Justin Draeger, Strada Education Foundation’s senior vice President of affordability, in a statement. “Institutions that are willing to lead on price transparency will help set a new standard for the entire higher education community.”
In addition to the survey results from “The Price Transparency Initiative,” the Strada Foundation also developed “Student-Centered Enrollment Management Principles” to provide institutions, policymakers, and the higher education community with a shared foundation for developing pricing practices and enrollment management to better serve the needs of students and families.
The principles are organized around five core themes: access and affordability, tuition and cost transparency, value and return on investment, sustainability of financial aid, and the use of personal information obtained during the recruitment and enrollment process.
“When the cost is hard to understand, people fill in the blanks themselves,” said The Enrollment Management Advisory Group, which convened to develop this resource in 2025. “Clarity and predictability are what students and families say they want most.”
Chuck Knepfle, co-chair of the Enrollment Management Advisory Group, noted that the research informed their focus on the needs of students and families navigating postsecondary education.
“When more than 5,000 of them tell you that cost confusion is eroding their trust in higher education, you listen,” Knepfle said. “This project spoke directly to my passion for student access and the value of college, and these principles are the field's response to that call."
A coalition of organizations and institutions of higher education has already endorsed the Student-Centered Enrollment Management Principles, which Strada Foundation said serves as a “signal of their commitment to improving price clarity, predictability, and student understanding in college pricing and financial aid.”
Interested participants can learn more about the principles and pledge their support.
Publication Date: 5/5/2026
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