Bethel University officials announced this week that the school will cut tuition for all undergraduate students to about $26,000 — about $18,000 less than this year — starting in the fall of 2025.
The reduction won’t cost the university much to implement. Because of scholarships and aid, the new price reflects what most students would already have paid.
“This really is driven around transparency and being clear with our students and families,” Ross Allen, president of Bethel University, said in an interview.
Private colleges have gotten into a “pricing game,” where there’s a high sticker price but many discounts or scholarships are available to students who qualify. But that can be frustrating and confusing to navigate for families, Allen said.
Some people rule out private colleges altogether because of their perceived cost, said Paul McGinnis, Bethel University’s vice president of marketing and enrollment.
“Very few people pay the full sticker price, and we want to just be clear and simple,” he said, adding that much of the national conversation about whether college is worth it uses colleges’ sticker prices, which can be deceiving.
Students will also still be eligible for federal financial aid and scholarships from the Arden Hills school, which enrolls roughly 2,000 undergraduates and 2,000 students in its graduate, online and seminary programs combined.
This year, the cost for tuition, room and board and fees is about $57,000, McGinnis said, but that will drop to about $39,000 for everything next year. Room and board costs roughly $12,600, he said.
