Scholars and cents: WT offering student price match comparisons with Beat Any Offer deal

West Texas A&M University is announcing a new initiative, offering incoming students price matching opportunities with its Beat Any Offer deal. According to WTAMU, these new comparison opportunities are set for potential students to have access as soon as Sunday, Feb. 12.

Through WT’s Beat Any Offer deal, prospective students from across the nation can submit their admission offers for another institution of higher education to WT, where WT will then work to beat the offer. The comparisons also include factors such as in state/out of state fees, scholarships, financial aid, and more.

WTAMU president Walter V. Wendler said that although he was unsure if the university was the first to establish the program, he does know that this is something not previously seen at WT. Wendler states that the program was created as a tool to help students stay mindful and understand the costs when choosing a university.

"We just want to be honest, open and transparent with students about cost to the best of our ability; that is what we are trying to do with this initiative," said Wendler.

"I think when people look and pay attention to cost, it might heighten their interest in both college generally, but WT specifically. ... We will present the comparisons and say, 'Here are our costs compared to the costs of another institution that you are interested in,' and if a student brings us an offer, we will do all we can to try to match it. I think in many cases, we will beat the offers," Wendler added.

The WTAMU president said the initial effort for the price matching will be for undergraduate students, FTIC Students (First Time in College Students), or transfer students. The Beat Any Offer deal will be available for any student who has applied or is thinking about applying to WT and another college or university anywhere in the United States.

According to WTAMU, the average cost for tuition and fees at the university is $9,202 for 15 undergraduate hours for in-state students and $11,376 for out-of-state students. That already compares favorably to other schools around the state, according to figures compiled by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

WTAMU vice president for enrollment management, Mike Knox, stated that although the initial idea for the price matching initiative may have stemmed from the university's current enrollment numbers, the university is proud of the fact that they have some of the lowest tuition rates in the nation and is confident that they will be able to match most students' comparison rates.

"Our enrollment is healthy now, but there are a lot of challenges in the market and we just don't want to get behind," Knox said. "So, we are looking at everything we can do. On top of that, we recognize that we have such a great place in the market because we offer a lot of great programs at a high quality for one of the best price points in Texas."

"It can be really difficult to decode a bill or what tuition and fees are going to be; everybody does it differently. And so what we propose, we are going to help you lay the cost out side by side to make a comparison, and we are making a bet that we are already going to beat most universities in almost every case," Knox added.

For more information or to compare rates, go online to wtamu.edu/BeatAnyOffer .

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: WTAMU plans to 'Beat Any Offer' with student price match comparison