Wooster lauded for price transparency by New York Times in wake of SCOTUS decision
The New York Times today praised The College of Wooster for offering all prospective students the ability to view what their out-of-pocket costs would be before applying to the College. The piece points out that Wooster gives all students the “white-glove” treatment, not just athletes or other “prized applicants.”
The piece, by the Times’ Your Money columnist Ron Lieber, comes in the wake of the United States Supreme Court decision to upend affirmative action that set a legal precedent of race-conscious practices in college admissions.
Lieber points out that price transparency is more crucial than ever as schools seek to admit students from a broad range of backgrounds to enhance their educational experiences. He writes that “maintaining diversity begins, in part, with schools not scaring away budget-conscious teenagers – many of whome come from low-income communities of color. And one excellent way to do that is to give people a binding price to attend before they go through the trouble of applying.”
He says Wooster’s Early Aid Estimator is a solution to the problem by providing prospective students the transparency to see exactly what their costs would be before even submitting an application. This is an uncommon practice at other higher education institutions where students are otherwise forced to go through the full application process before discovering their out-of-pocket costs.
Prospective students, Lieber writes, are discouraged by that process and many never reach the point where they discover that their college education is actually affordable. Wooster’s Early Aid Estimator solves this problem for all students.
Lieber previously authored a book, The Price You Pay for College, dedicating an entire chapter to Wooster, singling it out for its transparent merit aid and an admissions process that focuses on each student’s strengths. Lieber commended Wooster’s processes that help families make a decision on price while showing that the things that make Wooster special, like the college’s signature Independent Study program and faculty-student mentoring, set students up for success in the future.
Posted in Financial Aid, News on June 29, 2023.
