Private colleges see opening with state college tuition hikes
NASHVILLE — Tennessee’s private colleges are trying to woo students with a pitch that their schools are more affordable — thanks to lottery scholarships and tuition increases at state schools.
Tuition at the state’s private colleges has risen an average of about 6 percent each of the past six years. But at the University of Tennessee and other state schools, those hikes have averaged roughly 10 percent a year.
Private colleges are still usually much more expensive.
The average tuition at a private college in Tennessee is about $13,711 per year, but it can run as high as $30,000 at a school such as Vanderbilt University. In-state tuition at some state public schools is nearing $5,000 a year.
But the private schools say the cost increases at their public counterparts, coupled with new lottery scholarships that grant as much as $4,000 per year, mean more students than ever can afford colleges that get no state funding.
Some are including messages about lottery scholarships in packets mailed to students who are interested but have not yet enrolled.
Public schools say the gap really isn’t closing. The actual dollar amount of the tuition increases at the private schools is still higher, said Jeri Fields Rampy, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.
“When you look at the numbers, 7 percent of $3,000 is a lot less than 2 percent of $20,000,” she said. “I think everyone should understand a 2 percent increase at the private institutions means more actual dollars.”
Rampy said THEC, which expects the biggest freshman class in state history this fall, believes most students turned away from UT or other schools because of enrollment caps will choose another public entity, such as a community college.
But Claude Pressnell, president of the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association, said the private schools see an opening with all of the new students not being able to attend their first choice.
“We think they are going to start considering their local private school,” he said.
Enrollment at the private schools has been growing about 1 percent to 2 percent a year, he said. A bigger increase is expected this year.
“We’re anxious to see it, I think we will see some significant growth this year,” Pressnell said. “Our message is simple: The lottery scholarship is not an empty promise — you can still attend college this fall.”
Right now, about 23 percent of college students in Tennessee go to a private school. To increase their cut, the private schools said they need to fight off the misunderstanding that lottery scholarships can’t be used at private schools.
Rampy said that, in the end, everyone has the same goal with the lottery scholarship — put more of the state’s students into college.
“Everyone is about more education for the citizens of Tennessee,” she said. “Private, public, two years, four years — what matters is more educated Tennesseans.”
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On the ‘Net:
Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association: http://www.ticua.org
Tennessee Higher Education Commission: www.state.tn.us/thec/