Concordia-St. Paul lowers tuition by 20% for 2027-28 school year

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - While college tuition keeps climbing across the country, one Twin Cities university is lowering tuition to attract new students. 

Concordia-St. Paul resets tuition

What we know:

Concordia University St. Paul is lowering its in-person undergrad tuition by $5,500 next year. That brings the cost, not including room and board, down to $21,700 for both new and current students. Rev. Dr. Brian Fredrich, the university's president, is calling it a "tuition reset" because students haven't paid this little since the mid-2000s.

"We're rewinding tuition back to 2006 prices," Fredrich said. 

Fredrich said he hopes the change will draw students to campus, especially economically disadvantaged or first-generation students who would have never thought of private school as an option before. According to Concordia's strategic plan, the goal is to reach a 10,000-student body by 2030.

This is the second time Concordia-St. Paul has lowered tuition in recent years. Since the first tuition reset in 2013, enrollment has jumped 87%, the university said.

Why this is happening now

Where's the competition:

Fredrich says the biggest thing standing between Concordia and potential students isn't a rival university. It's students deciding college isn't an option at all.

"Students just say, I give up, I can't afford it so I'm not even going to consider college," said Fredrich. "And we want as many students as we possibly can to consider college."

Making it work without cuts:

Fredrich says this tuition drop is possible because of how much Concordia has grown its course offerings. 

"We have 100 different academic programs," Fredrich said. "There's a large variety of different sources of revenue that come to the institution." 

No courses or staff are being cut to make up for lower tuition, and students will still receive merit scholarships on top of the lower base price.

The bigger picture on college costs

Dig deeper:

Tuition has been going up for years at schools across the country. The average tuition at a private university in the U.S. is $45,000. Public schools have also seen increases, citing decreased enrollment and inadequate state funding. 

Friedrich hopes this tuition reset will put Concordia in line with projected tuition for the University of Minnesota next year. In-state tuition at the U of M this year is just over $19,000.

Sticker shock is real:

Many universities try to soften the blow with merit scholarships, but experts say the listed price alone is enough to push families away before they even apply. Michelle Smolley of Bright Horizons calls it "sticker shock price" and says things have gotten out of hand.

"Now we're getting to a point where tuition is just becoming too high and the discounting is becoming too high," said Smolley.

Fredrich said tackling that sticker shock is part of the goal. 

"We believe that the high tuition, high discount, that model is fundamentally broken," he said.

Smolley also noted that more families are starting to look beyond a traditional four-year degree.

"We are seeing due to cost, more families and students open to maybe looking at other pathways," said Smolley.

The Source: FOX 9's Emily Pofahl spoke with Concordia University President Rev. Dr. Brian Fredrich and Bright Horizons' Michelle Smolley for this report.