La Plume – Keystone College has announced a tuition price reset beginning in the 2020-2021 academic year which continues the college’s mission of making college more accessible to as many students as possible.
The new pricing structure is designed to better reflect what students will actually pay for tuition once scholarships and other forms of institutional financial aid are applied. In essence, the tuition reset will provide a more transparent and realistic “sticker price” for students and their families. The change comes after three years of increased freshmen enrollment, the relaunch of football and wrestling programs, the successful completion of a comprehensive capital campaign, and a new college retail development project which is nearing completion. Keystone is also undertaking a strategic institutional advancement campaign to increase funding for student scholarships.
According to the new pricing schedule, tuition for all new and returning full-time undergraduate students will now be $14,500 per year for the 2020-2021 academic year compared to $24,920 for the current 2019-2020 academic year. In addition, the college’s comprehensive fee charged to undergraduate students will change to $2,500 per year from the current $1,100 but will cover all individual course fees. The overall change results in a 39 percent reduction in the cost of full-time undergraduate education.
Keystone scholarships and grants will be scaled accordingly. Merit scholarships will still be offered but in a different model than the “higher discount” awards currently in effect. Overall, it is estimated that, in most cases, the actual price of attendance (the net price) for returning students in 2020-2021 will be about equal to, or slightly less, than the amount students are paying this academic year. Rates for room and board will remain unchanged as will graduate tuition rates.
“Keystone has always been a leader among colleges in making higher education affordable to as many students as possible,” said Keystone President Tracy L. Brundage, Ph.D. “Our new tuition reset continues that tradition by helping take much of the confusion and guesswork out of the process.”
Keystone’s current published tuition price, which is lower than most four-year private institutions, is rarely what students pay upon enrollment, because of comprehensive financial aid packages which are offered to approximately 96 percent of students. That process often leaves many students and families confused about how much their education will really cost. By resetting tuition and including course fees, actual tuition costs will be more transparent for everyone.
“By resetting tuition, we are also resetting the baseline for future tuition increases should they become necessary” Dr. Brundage said. “Over the long term, this new pricing strategy will make paying for college less complicated, more transparent, and more equitable for more of our students. That’s always been our objective and we feel we are once again taking a positive step in that direction.”