Main Line College Reduces Tuition By 43 Percent

Anyone can tell you the price of college tuition is going up.

But as most universities raise tuition, one Pennsylvania college is drastically reducing theirs.

Rosemont College, located in Rosemont on the Main Line outside of Philadelphia, announced this week it will reduce tuition by 43 percent starting in 2016-2017.

“This initiative, which we’ve termed Our Tuition Promise, reduces tuition to a new price of $18,500,” the college announced on its website.

Additionally, room and board will be reduced by 14 percent to $11,500.

“I’m really excited about this because I know it’s going to change how we approach families and how we are known. We’re known to be flexible and able to change,” Rosemont College President Sharon Latchaw Hirsh said.

Hirsh, noting the college’s willingness to “take a leadership position” to make higher education affordable, said the purose of the “Tuition Promise” is two-fold.

First, the college hopes to be an affordable and accessible private-college option for all families. Plus, the college hopes to offer “clarity in the confusing world of college finance.”

“Our research tells us that in the past, families have overlooked us based on sticker price alone. Our hope is that Rosemont will appear on the radar of many middle-income families who are seeking a private, values-based liberal arts education – but who previously thought Rosemont was beyond their means,” the college announced on its website.

The college pledges the change will come with no impact to the quality of education.

“Rosemont will remain home to attentive, highly-credentialed faculty and continue to offer all of the athletics and campus life opportunities that make Rosemont so special. Rosemont will continue to have a 10:1 student to faculty ratio. Financial aid will still be available for students who qualify, at a rate proportional to our lowered tuition,” the school said.