Tuition Differentials
When is Cost of Attendance not your cost of attendance? When a college has tuition differentials. A trend that's gained steam in recent years, tuition differentials are surcharges for certain courses, majors or academic years. Found primarily at public universities, tuition differentials have been around for a while in STEM fields and seem to be spreading to others including art, design and even education.
Tuition differentials are assessed in different ways, depending on the college. Sometimes it's an increase in the per credit cost that students are assessed. Other times it could be an added fee for a specific class or higher tuition for later years of college. Whatever the execution, the concept is similar: charge more for courses that cost more to offer. That added cost might come from specialized equipment or supplies such as for lab sciences, higher faculty salaries such as for business or computer science, or new or improved facilities.
Tuition differentials come in all shapes and sizes. For example, at Illinois State University, students majoring in nursing, business, cybersecurity and computer science will pay an additional $60 per credit hour. The University of Nebraska - Omaha has course-related fees ranging from $1 to over $800 for a wide range of courses including foreign languages and teacher education. The University of Missouri has three tiers of tuition, based on major.
Besides the added cost, tuition differentials have some significant negative impacts:
Often, the costs are unclear because they're not included or even referenced in the university's cost of attendance, but rather require prospective students to dig through websites to find them. This makes it virtually impossible to estimate what a degree will actually cost.
Although research is limited, a study at a single institution showed that students receiving Pell grants were less likely to enroll in higher-priced courses, raising concerns that lower-income students are being priced out of majors that lead to higher-paying careers.
Be that as it may, more than half of public universities charge some form of tuition differential, and these can result in significant variance from published cost of attendance. (Why just public universities? Typically this is because public universities have less flexibility in raising tuition, which often has to be approved by a state board.)
How can you find out about tuition differentials? If you can't find information on the college website, reach out and ask. In addition to asking the college directly, ask them to put you in touch with a student in your intended major. If the college assesses tuition differentials by class, ask for a syllabus for the four years of your intended major. And since most students either enter college undeclared or change major during their four years, ask about the entire range of costs for different majors on campus.
What to do if you learn your intended major does have a tuition differential? First, ask about departmental scholarships that might offset those costs. Many programs offer scholarships for exactly this purpose. Make sure the differential fits in your budget, and identify ways to either shave your overall college cost or increase available dollars to fund it. Does the program help find (well-compensated) summer internships? Could the student tutor the subject? Do industry groups, employers or alumni associations fund outside scholarships that can help? Can you continue funding your 529 during the college years to get state tax benefits? Any of these strategies can help to offset additional college costs and make your desired major fit your budget.
