Ohio Dominican President Jack Calareso (right) and Catherine Cook (middle), CEO of Miller/Cook Associates, Inc., described how two institutions reached very different decisions about tuition pricing. Katherine Haley Will (left), president of Whittier College (CA), moderated
the session.

Two institutions recently reached quite different decisions about tuition pricing, but experienced similar positive results from their decisions. Jack Calareso, president of Ohio Dominican University, said the decision to increase tuition by 27.3 percent in one year and move to university status was made after a careful analysis of existing conditions on campus, the university’s mission, price-value research, and admissions and financial aid policies, among other factors. He said “the tuition increase generated $3 million in net revenue and the institution’s financial health has turned around. We are building a new student center, have added new staff and programs, and the public’s perception of the school has changed—Ohio Dominican is now considered a school of distinction.”
     Catherine Cook, CEO of Miller/ Cook Associates, Inc., presented the reasons behind and results of the opposite decision made by Westminster College (MO) with consultation from Miller/Cook. The campus reduced tuition by 20 percent for new students and 5 percent for returning students, in large part because of the adverse economic situation in Missouri in 2002. Cook related how this strategy also resulted in positive outcomes. “Westminster increased the number of new students, added $200,000 in net tuition, improved retention rates, and operated in the black for the first time in decades.” She outlined some of the questions administrators should ask before adopting any tuition strategy:

Click here for Cook’s supplemental materials on college pricing, student aid, and processes intended to maximize net tuition revenue.