Some Colleges Choose to Slash, Freeze Tuition

While the average tuition at most private and public colleges and universities increases every year, some schools are slashing or freezing their price tag.

For parents and students who struggle with ever-increasing college costs, a reduction in price or a tuition freeze holds the promise of budget relief.

On average, the cost of tuition at a private college increases by 2.4 percent each year compared with rising 3.4 percent at a public institution, according to the College Board.

But a handful of schools are bucking the trend by either freezing tuition, providing programs that increase tuition grants to low-income students or by slashing their sticker prices.

[See these 11 tuition-free colleges.]

-- Some states are freezing tuition rates at public institutions. The University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill, similar to other schools in the UNC system, for example, will offer a tuition freeze to its incoming in-state freshmen this year because of a recent move by its state legislature. Incoming in-state students for the class of 2020 in the UNC system will now pay the 2016-2017 year tuition rate for the next four years without a price bump.

"The same rate follows you for all four years," says Carol Folt, UNC--Chapel Hill's chancellor.

Other state schools -- University of Cincinnati, Missouri State University and Ohio State University--Columbus -- have implemented tuition freezes in recent years.

-- There are state programs to offset the cost of tuition for low-income in-state students. Maryland's Guaranteed Access Partnership Program expanded its program this year to include its private institution members such as Baltimore's John Hopkins University and Loyola University Maryland, to name a couple.

Every member of the Maryland Independent College and University Association pledged this year to match the state's program dollar per dollar up to the full cost of mandatory fees, says Tina Bjarekull, president of the association. "The maximum grant is $17,900 for a private institution."

To qualify, a student needs to graduate from a Maryland high school with at least a 2.5 GPA, among a couple of other criteria. A student's family also needs to be at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty line -- a family of four with an annual household income of $31,590 would qualify, for example.

But Maryland isn't the only state to have a tuition assistance program for low-income families. Washington promises in-state, low-income families tuition assistance at its public universities, and it typically covers the cost of the sticker price. The criteria again is based on household income -- not exceeding $55,500 a year for a family of four, as an example -- and other criteria such as maintaining at least a C average.

Washington's state legislature also rolled back in-state tuition last year, cutting prices at public institutions by around 15 percent over a two-year period. Under the new law, the University of Washington and Washington State University slashed their in-state undergrad tuition by 5 percent for the 2015-2016 school year and have further decreased the in-state price by another 10 percent this year.

An in-state undergraduate at UW paid $12,394 for the 2014-2015 school year compared with $10,753 for the 2016-2017 year -- a $1,641 savings.

[Check out tips for low-income students on paying for college.]

-- A couple of private colleges have implemented a tuition reset. Many price implementations or programs are new, introduced within the last year -- with some incoming freshmen for the class of 2020 reaping the benefits. These schools aren't just public institutions.

"When you're speaking about colleges that are slashing tuition, those tend to be small liberal arts colleges without huge national draws," says Victoria Tillson Evans, founder of Distinctive College Consulting in Bethesda, Maryland, who helps students and their families navigate the college admissions process. "They're more regional schools than national schools."

[Explore how private colleges are increasing tuition discounts.]

Utica College in upstate New York slashed its tuition for incoming freshmen this year by 42 percent, charging $19,996 for the 2016-2017 school year.

"We were of the mindset that the high tuition, high discount model was broken for our families," says Laura Casamento, president of Utica College. "Nearly three-quarters of our families were telling us that we were too expensive."

Casamento says they priced the school to be just slightly more than the cost of attending a state school for residents.

"We have major competitors that are state schools, and we wanted to be priced in such a way to be competitive," says Utica College's president, who adds other schools have contacted their college to learn more about their tuition model.

But the New York school isn't the only private college to adjust its price tag.

Rosemont College, located in the suburbs of Philadelphia, slashed its price by 43 percent to $18,500 for its incoming class this year.

"A student that comes from the area may be more interested in it," Evans says. "Someone who lives in Rosemont or the Philadelphia area may be interested in taking that school up on its offer."

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Farran Powell is an education reporter at U.S. News, covering paying for college and graduate school. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at fpowell@usnews.com.