Colby-Sawyer Cutting Costs

By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
NEW LONDON- Colby-Sawyer College, founded in 1837, has recently announced a significant cut in their cost of tuition starting in the fall of 2023. Representatives from the college say that the price cut is in line with their goal of affordability as well as transparency.

The school will be cutting their tuition from this year’s cost of $46,364 to only $17,500, a 62% decrease. The private college feels as though the steep price of the college dissuades potential students from considering the school as an option, despite one hundred percent of students receiving financial aid. The total cost for a four-year undergraduate education is currently $63,500 including tuition, room & board, as well as a comprehensive fee. With the newest cut to tuition, expected total costs before aid would be $35,159 for the year. As compared to Dartmouth College, another private New Hampshire college, whose tuition is $60,687 for a total of roughly $80,000 per year.

This comes in the wake of the Biden Administration’s recent announcement forgiving up to $20,000 in loans. Much of the loan debt forgiveness is centered around whether students received a Pell Grant during their time in college. While many are supportive of the plan, some like Texas Governor Greg Abbot have said that it would “hurt the working class.”

“It’s no secret that the cost of higher education has become untenable. For decades, we have worked to ensure that students and families do not bear the full burden of that cost,” said Colby-Sawyer President Susan D. Stuebner Ed.D. in a letter from the school.

Stuebner also cited increasing financial stability as a reason for cutting costs for students. Years of strategic planning and a balanced budget have placed the school in a position to be able to offer affordable costs to students. According to Stuebner, donors for the college have been donating record amounts, resulting in their endowment nearly doubling in recent years and this all comes from a belief in the school’s strategic process. This marks a major turn around since 2016 in which the school announced a $2.6 million operating loss and in turn laid off 18 employees, during what the school referred to as a “restructuring” period.

Colby-Sawyer, located in New London, currently has around 1,000 students in their undergraduate programs. The school in recent years has also seen a push toward the healthcare field, adding and returning majors that would align with someone seeking an education in that field as part of a partnership with Dartmouth Health.