打折無效，美國小型學院改打降價牌

Getting Out of Discount Game, Small Colleges Lower the Price

打折無效，美國小型學院改打降價牌

A higher education riddle: When can a college slash tuition by almost half, without losing revenues? Answer: When nobody much pays full tuition anyway.

一道高等教育謎題：一所學院什么時候可以削減近一半學費，而不會損失收入?謎底：當沒有人支付全額學費的時候。

When Converse College, a tiny women’s college here, announced that it was “resetting” next year’s tuition at $16,500, down 43 percent from the current year’s published price of $29,000, the talk was about affordability, transparency and a better deal for struggling families.

肯弗斯學院(Converse College)打算把明年的學費“重新設(shè)定”為1.65萬美元，較本年度公布的2.9萬美元學費下降43%。宣布這項消息時，這所小規(guī)模女子學院強調(diào)的是經(jīng)濟承受能力和透明度，并且聲稱這樣做更有利于經(jīng)濟困難家庭。

But of Converse’s 700 undergraduates, only a small number — in the single digits, its president said, paid the full sticker price in recent years. Almost everyone received a tuition discount from the college, along with, in many cases, financial aid from the state and federal governments.

但近些年來，在肯弗斯學院的700名本科生中，只有少數(shù)學生全額按標價支付了學費——該校校長透露說，這個數(shù)字是個位數(shù)。幾乎每位學生都獲得了該校給予的學費折扣，還有很多人獲得州和聯(lián)邦政府發(fā)放的助學金。

Now, like some other small private colleges, Converse is cutting tuition and reducing discounts. Betsy Fleming, Converse’s president, said the tuition discount rate would drop to 25 percent, well below the national average, from the current 56 percent. The college will still offer aid to talented students, but only to the extent covered by its $39 million endowed scholarship funds.

現(xiàn)在，像其他小規(guī)模私立院校一樣，肯弗斯學院打算削減學費，并減少折扣。該校校長貝特西·弗萊明(Betsy Fleming)表示，學費折扣率將從目前的56%下降至25%，遠低于全美平均水平。這所學院仍將資助優(yōu)秀學生，但只在該校3900萬獎學基金夠付的范圍內(nèi)。

While Converse’s reset was the most drastic, others including Concordia University in Oregon, Ashland University in Ohio, Ave Maria University in Florida, Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina and Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage, have also recently announced tuition cuts.

盡管肯弗斯學院的學費調(diào)整幅度非常大，但其他高等院校最近也宣布了削減學費的計劃，比如俄勒岡州的康考迪亞大學(Concordia University)、俄亥俄州的阿什蘭大學(Ashland University)、佛羅里達州的圣母頌大學(Ave Maria University)、北卡羅萊納州的貝爾蒙特大學(Belmont Abbey College)，以及位于阿拉斯加安克雷奇市的阿拉斯加太平洋學院(Alaska Pacific University)。

For decades, most private college pricing has reflected the Chivas Regal effect — the notion that whether in a Scotch or a school, a higher price indicates higher quality.

大多數(shù)私立院校幾十年來的學費定價反映了芝華士(Chivas Regal)效應(yīng)——無論是一瓶蘇格蘭威士忌，還是一所學校，高價象征著高質(zhì)量。

“Schools wanted a high tuition on the assumption that families would say that if they’re charging that high tuition, they must be right up there with the Ivies,” said David L. Warren, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. “So schools would set a high tuition, then discount it. But when the schools in your peer group all have discounts, it becomes an untenable competition for students, with everyone having to increase their discounts.”

“學校想設(shè)定一個較高的學費，因為他們推想，學生家長準會說，要是收這么高的學費，其教學水平肯定也達到了常春藤院校級別，”全美獨立學院和大學協(xié)會(National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities)主席大衛(wèi)·沃倫(David L. Warren)這樣說道。“所以，學校往往會設(shè)定一個較高的學費，然后打折。但當同檔次院校都在打折的時候，你就必須加大折扣力度，對于學生來說，這樣的競爭是站不腳的。”

At the nation’s most selective institutions, discounts are usually reserved for low- and middle-income students, and a third to a half of students pay the full sticker price. But colleges without a national reputation pass out discounts, in the form of aid, with a free hand — and not just to needy students.

在全美最難進的高等院校，校方通常把折扣預留給中低收入學生，三分之一到一半學生支付全額學費。但許多缺乏全國知名度的院校往往采用資助的方式隨意打折，享受折扣政策的不僅僅是家境困難學生。

“About a quarter of students at independent colleges are full-pay, and at institutions with small endowments and small name recognition, it’s single-digit,” Mr. Warren said.

“在獨立學院，大約四分之一的學生支付全額學費，而在一些捐贈基金較少，知名度較低的院校，只有個位數(shù)學生這樣做，”沃倫說。

Over all, private colleges discounted freshman tuition by 45 percent last year, a new high, according to a survey by the National Association of College and University Business Officers, and the share of freshmen getting institutional aid rose to 87 percent last year, from 80 percent in 2002, also a new high.

根據(jù)全美學院和大學商務(wù)官員協(xié)會(National Association of College and University Business Officers)的一項調(diào)查，總體而言，私立院校去年向新生提供的學費折扣率為45%，再創(chuàng)新高;去年獲得校方資助的新生比例從2012年的80%攀升至87%，也創(chuàng)下了歷史新高。

For all but the top-tier private colleges, these are tough times. Enrollment is flat or declining in many parts of the country. In November, Moody’s issued a report finding that more than 40 percent of colleges and universities face falling or stagnant tuition revenue. With family incomes stalled, many bargain-seeking students are drawn to public institutions. And for colleges that are not well known, the race to lure students with big discounts is becoming unsustainable.

現(xiàn)在，除個別頂尖名校外，大多數(shù)私立院校的日子都不好過。在美國許多地區(qū)，私立院校的在校學生人數(shù)不升反降。穆迪公司(Moody’s)11月份發(fā)布的一份報告稱，超過40%的學院和大學面臨學費收入不斷下降或陷入停滯的局面。由于家庭收入停滯不前，許多打算上學費低廉大學的學生被吸引到公立院校。對于那些名聲不夠響亮的學院來說，以大幅折扣吸引學生的競爭越來越難以持續(xù)。

As a result, many private colleges are rethinking their pricing — whether cutting or freezing tuition, or locking in the freshman tuition for all four years.

其結(jié)果是，許多私立院校正在反思其定價策略——要么準備降低或凍結(jié)學費，要么將大學四年的學費定為固定費用。

“Whether you in fact make it more affordable with a reset or a freeze is not clear, since net revenues tend to come out about the same,” said Richard Ekman, president of the Council of Independent Colleges. “But there’s a public assumption that private higher ed is unaffordable, so anything that gets people’s attention and lets you have the conversation explaining that most people don’t pay full price, that it is within reach, is very important.”

“現(xiàn)在還不清楚重新設(shè)定或固定學費是不是可以減輕學生的負擔，因為凈營收很可能跟以前差不多，”獨立學院理事會(Council of Independent Colleges)主席理查德·埃克曼(Richard Ekman)說。“但公眾往往以為，他們負擔不起私立高等教育。因此，任何措施，只要能夠吸引大家的注意力，讓你有機會解釋大多數(shù)學生并沒有全額付費，學費完全在承受范圍內(nèi)的，都是非常重要的。”

Sewanee, the University of the South, reduced its overall cost of attendance — tuition, fees, room and board — by 10 percent in 2011 to be more competitive with the public universities elsewhere in Tennessee, and in Georgia.

2011年，西沃恩南方大學(Sewanee, the University of the South)將其上學總成本(包括學費、雜費和食宿費)降低了10%，以加強相對于田納西州和喬治亞州公立大學的競爭力。

“We’re happy with it,” said the vice chancellor, John M. McCardell Jr. “Our applications continue to grow, our selectivity and yield and retention are all improving.”

“我們很樂意這樣做，”副校長小約翰·M·麥克卡代爾(John M. McCardell Jr.)說：“我們的申請人數(shù)持續(xù)增長，我們的新生素質(zhì)、報到率和返校率均在改善。”

True, costs have crept back up, almost to the $46,100 pre-cut level, but Sewanee now guarantees that tuition will not increase during a student’s four years at the college.

沒錯，上學成本已經(jīng)悄然回升，幾乎恢復至降價前的水平(46100美元)，但西沃恩南方大學現(xiàn)在做出保證，大學四年的學費不會增加。

With growing sensitivity to tuition increase, such fixed-rate guarantees are becoming more widespread. Just this week, Northland College in Wisconsin became the latest to announce such a step.

隨著人們對學費上漲越來越敏感，這種學費固定不變的承諾正變得越來越普遍。就在本周，威斯康星州的諾思蘭學院(Northland College)成為最新一家宣布這項步驟的大學。

Roger Williams University in Rhode Island turned to fixed-rate tuition after some market research.

羅德島的羅杰·威廉姆斯大學(Roger Williams University)是在經(jīng)過一番市場調(diào)研后，轉(zhuǎn)向?qū)W費固定政策的。

“When I got here in June 2011, there were so few people paying full price that one wondered why we bothered,” said Donald Farish, the university’s president. “If everybody’s getting a discount, the notion that there is a full price is almost meaningless. It’s a model that makes no sense, and makes you feel like you’re in a Middle Eastern souk bargaining with the tourists who just arrived.”

“2011年6月份剛到這里時，幾乎沒有幾個學生支付全額學費，以至于有人納悶我們?yōu)槭裁匆龠@份心，”該校校長唐納德·法里什(Donald Farish)說。“如果每個人都能拿到折扣，全額學費就差不多是一個毫無意義的概念。這種模式根本就講不通，它讓你覺得你正在一個中東集市上跟剛來的游客討價還價。”

Mr. Farish talked to the board about cutting tuition “to present a more authentic number,” and hired consultants, Maguire Associates, to find out whether current and prospective families would prefer a campus that charged $23,000 or one that charged $36,000 but offered an average of $13,000 in aid.

法里什建議董事會把學費削減至“一個更真實的數(shù)字，”并聘請馬古力顧問咨詢公司(Maguire Associates)調(diào)查，目前和潛在的學生家庭究竟是喜歡大學收2.3萬美元學費，還是喜歡大學收3.6萬美元，但平均提供1.3萬美元的資助。

To Mr. Farish’s surprise, twice as many families preferred the high-cost, high-discount approach, and the consultants warned that cutting tuition would cut the freshman class in half. So instead, Mr. Farish has locked in freshman tuition for four years. This year, the university overshot its enrollment target by 100 students, he said, bringing in 40 more freshmen, and retaining 60 more sophomores, “which I think was largely because their tuition didn’t go up.”

令法里什驚訝的是，青睞高收費高折扣方式的家庭竟然是另一類家庭的兩倍。咨詢顧問警告說，削減學費將導致入學新生減半。經(jīng)過權(quán)衡，法里什最終決定固定新生學費，四年不變。今年，這所大學的學生人數(shù)比招生目標多了100人，多招了40名新生，多留下了60名大二學生，“我認為，這主要是因為學費沒有上漲。”他說。

But the consultant who worked with Converse and Concordia, Kevin W. Crockett of Noel-Levitz, said tuition cuts can be useful at colleges where the high sticker price is scaring off students, few pay full freight, and where the school is reasonably healthy over all.

但在受聘于肯弗斯學院和康考迪亞大學的Noel-Levitz公司咨詢師凱文·W·克羅克特(Kevin W. Crockett)看來，如果某些院校有可能因高收費而嚇跑學生，很少有人支付全額費用，而學校整體表現(xiàn)比較健康，削減學費或許能夠產(chǎn)生一些效果。

“If the school’s doing badly, a tuition cut can look like an act of desperation,” he said. “Also, it has to be part of an overall business strategy, emphasizing the program.”

“要是學校自身的表現(xiàn)很差勁，削減學費看上去就像是一種走投無路的絕望行為，”他說。“此外，它必須是一項旨在增強學校實力的整體商業(yè)戰(zhàn)略的組成部分。”

Converse, the nation’s only women’s college competing in Division II sports, met those conditions. After some difficult years, the college is on an upswing, with the largest freshman class in years, a new genetics counseling program, a new field house and a strong music school.

作為全美唯一一所加入大學聯(lián)賽乙組(Division II)的女子院校，肯弗斯學院符合這些條件。熬過幾個艱難的學年之后，這所學院終于撥云見日，不僅新生人數(shù)達歷年之最，還新設(shè)了一個遺傳學咨詢項目，一座體育館和一個陣容強大的音樂學系。

While the reset will have little effect on net revenue per student, Ms. Fleming said, the lower sticker price should increase interest in the school. Indeed both applications and donations have increased.

弗萊明校長說，盡管重設(shè)學費對每位學生帶來的凈營收影響不大，但更低的標價應(yīng)該會加大學校的感召力。事實上，申請人數(shù)和捐款金額均有所增長。

“We’re taking the fear of the price tag out of the equation on the front end,” she said. “When I think about tuition discounting, it seems deceptive, like a smoke-and-mirrors game. I think a majority of colleges like us could do exactly what we’re doing if they trusted that they don’t have to buy students.”

“我們正在擺脫對學費價碼的恐懼，”她說。“一想到不斷打折的學費，我就覺得它帶有欺騙性，就像障眼術(shù)。我認為，大多數(shù)像我們這樣的院校完全可以做我們正在做的事情，如果他們確信自己沒必要收買學生的話。”