The article focuses on North Park’s decision in 2005 to reduce its tuition by 30 percent while at the same time offering less financial aid. The move was designed to eliminate “sticker shock” parents often experienced when they learned tuition at the time was $20,000 per year.
“We wanted a more straightforward approach,” Dean of Admissions Mark Olson tells the newspaper. The university slashed tuition to $13,900 for full-time undergraduates in 2005. Tuition for the 2007-08 school year is $16,500. “It’s been fabulously successful,” Olson says. “We’re calling it a no-haggle approach to financial aid and tuition. Our first offer is our best offer.”
North Park’s decision to overhaul its academic program, which cut the number of majors from 50 to 30, also was instrumental in turning around enrollment that once had been in decline. “It’s kind of a ‘good to great’ strategy, figuring out what you do best and focusing on it,” Olson said. The school also strengthened its graduate nonprofit management program, which continues to gain recognition.
For more information about the tuition program, visit North Park tuition.
