College for less? Maryland universities are betting discounts will draw students

Mount St. Mary’s University, a small, private Catholic school in Emmitsburg, last month announced a new deal for incoming students: Maryland high school graduates with a 3.0 GPA and a family income of less than $125,000 qualify for a 75% discount on tuition.

Reducing the annual cost of college from $50,000 to $12,500 may seem extraordinary, but the Mount St. Mary’s discount is just the latest in a wave of special deals promoted at campuses across the state. Also last month, Loyola University Maryland announced it would fully cover its $61,810 annual tuition for certain students. And before that, Towson and Frostburg State universities added special rates for students from nearby states.

Even the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School got in on the trend this spring, offering half-price tuition for certain master’s degree programs for graduates of Maryland colleges.

“There is both greater competition for students among colleges and also a greater need among families for additional support,” said Ken Redd, senior director of research and policy analysis at the National Association of College and University Business Officers.

Private colleges have long discounted tuition in the form of scholarships — essentially, special deals offered to applicants. But as Americans lose confidence in the value of a college degree and the pool of prospective students shrinks, more campuses are advertising discounts for large groups of students. Public colleges, too, are competing on one increasingly important factor: price.

Experts say the discounts can attract students but risk throwing school finances off balance if too many pay reduced rates.

Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults believe four-year colleges are doing a poor job of providing an affordable education, according to a Gallup poll this summer. Sixteen colleges across the country charge more than $100,000 a year in tuition, and even more charge between $90,000 and $100,000. In Maryland, the sticker price of a college degree has risen at most institutions.

At the same time, the number of college-age students locally and nationally is falling thanks to a drop in birth rates that began about 18 years ago. The share of students who enroll in college immediately after graduating high school has dropped 10.4% since its peak in 2009, according to the Education Data Initiative.

And with a declining number of international students enrolling at American universities, many institutions now have to rely more heavily on domestic pipelines.

It’s likely that some of the deals colleges are advertising now reflect the discounts they were already giving students, said Phillip Levine, an economics professor at Wellesley College who studies tuition rates.

Mount St. Mary’s, for example, has a sticker price of about $64,000 a year in tuition, fees and other expenses. But according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average student actually pays around $23,000 to attend, a 65% discount.

“The simple argument is that it makes a big splash in the media when it happens,” Levine said of advertising discounts, “but usually the attention quickly fades away.”

And while tuition deals may recruit more students, they may not pay off in the end, Redd said.

“The discounts are so large and so broad-based that in the long run, they end up costing schools more tuition revenue than the enrollment gain would suggest,” Redd said. “They’re not self-sustaining.”

At Mount St. Mary’s, net tuition revenue decreased 23% from 2019 to 2024, even though enrollment increased about 3% in the same time frame, according to federal data, likely because of heavy discounting.

The school’s new deal for Maryland high school grads is meant to appeal to students who may have thought attending a private university wasn’t an option due to cost, according to the university’s announcement.

The program “reflects who we are at the Mount and our commitment to making a Mount education accessible to talented students across Maryland,” President Jerry Joyce said in a statement.

Loyola officials shared a similar motivation for advertising a reduced cost.

“For many students and families, the published cost of a private university can make a Loyola education seem out of reach before they ever explore the financial aid available to them,” Eric Nichols, the university’s vice president for enrollment management, said in a statement.

The private Catholic university in North Baltimore will fully cover undergraduate tuition for Maryland high school grads with a 3.3 GPA who receive a Federal Pell Grant and a Maryland Guaranteed Access Grant. Both grants go to students with exceptional financial need.

Beginning in fall 2027, eligible graduates of Baltimore City high schools who receive a Pell Grant and a Guaranteed Access Grant will have tuition — as well as housing and meals — fully covered by Loyola.

Loyola boasts that 99% of students receive financial aid, but that comes with a cost: The university’s tuition revenue decreased by nearly 40% from 2019 to 2024. Last spring, Loyola eliminated 66 jobs amid a $20 million deficit.

While data from the National Association of College and University Business Officers shows that private colleges are more likely to offer tuition discounts, some Maryland public universities are doing the same.

Towson University, which has seen a 22% drop in the number of undergraduate degrees awarded over the last five years, last month introduced a special regional tuition rate for students from mid-Atlantic states. Earlier this year, Frostburg State University also introduced lower rates for certain out-of-state students in the region.

Regional students are key to helping both universities’ bottom lines.

Whether or not discounting pays off for colleges, it ultimately benefits prospective students, Redd said.

“We are certainly in a buyer’s market,” he said. “Students have the upper hand right now, and are likely having to fend off multiple generous aid offers.”

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