(from The Chronicle of Higher Education) A price drop of more than $16,000 has emerged as a key element of Sweet Briar College's ambitious new plan to overhaul its pricing model, curriculum and calendar. Two years after the small Virginia women's college nearly closed, new President Meredith Woo said the institution's recent struggles made it "really ripe for doing something bold and fundamental." The tuition reset reflects slashing tuition, room and board, and fees from more than $50,000 in the current academic year to $34,000 in 2018-19, roughly equivalent to in-state tuition at the public University of Virginia.
Among changes supporting the decrease: committing to pricing transparency instead of deep tuition discounts, abolishing traditional academic departments in favor of three focus areas, leveraging its 3,200-acre campus to offer an environmental studies emphasis, and a new calendar. "The high-tuition, high-discount model [is] completely broken," Ms. Wood said.
More at The Chronicle of Higher Education
See all news items on NetAssets.org.
Listen to the latest episode of the Net Assets podcast.
