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A Sign That Tuition Is Too High: Some Colleges Are Slashing It in Half
学费过高已现端倪：部分大学将学费削减一半
Over the last two years, applications at Colby-Sawyer College, a small, quaint assemblage of red brick buildings surrounded by three mountains, fell about 10 percent, hurt by the pandemic and by competition from less expensive public colleges across the Northeast.
科尔比-索耶学院的校园三山环绕，是一个古雅的小型红砖建筑群。在过去两年里，受疫情影响，以及来自东北部学费较低的公立大学的竞争，该校的申请人数下降了约10%。
Against that backdrop, Colby-Sawyer made what looks like a radical decision.
在这种背景下，科尔比-索耶做出了一个看起来很激进的决定。
It slashed the official price of tuition for the 2023-24 school year to $17,500, from about $46,000, a drop of 62 percent.
它将2023—24学年的官方学费从约4.6万美元下调至1.75万美元，降幅为62%。
Its published tuition is now only slightly higher than the cost of attending regional public universities.
它所公布的学费现在仅略高于地区性公立大学的费用。
Colby-Sawyer has joined a growing number of small, private colleges in what’s called the tuition reset, which overhauls prices to reflect what most students actually pay after discounting through need-based and merit financial aid.
科尔比-索耶学院加入了越来越多的小型私立大学的行列，进行了所谓的学费重置计划，该计划对学费进行了全面改革，以反映大多数学生在得到基于需要和优秀表现的助学金后实际支付的费用。
The reset is part marketing move and part reality check.
学费充值计划一半是营销手段，一半是直面现实。
It is frank recognition among some lesser-known colleges that their prices are something of a feint.
一些不太知名的大学坦然承认，它们的学费是虚晃一枪。
They are high in part to mimic the price tag of the most elite colleges and universities — suggesting that this is an education worth paying for — but, in reality, the prices are not based in fact.
学费之所以高，部分是为了效仿最顶尖的学院和大学的价格标签——表明这是值得花钱的教育——但实际上，价格并不是基于事实而定的。
At Colby-Sawyer, every student gets a discount.
在科尔比-索耶学院，每个学生都享有折扣。
“I don’t want to call it a game, because it’s not a game,” said Susan D. Stuebner, the president of Colby-Sawyer.
“我不想把它叫做耍花招，因为它不是耍花招。”科尔比-索耶学院的校长苏珊·D. 斯图布纳说。
“But this phenomenon in higher education of a high sticker price, high discount is so confusing to families.”
“但高等教育中的这种高标价、高折扣现象让许多家庭感到困惑。”
Many potential applicants, she said, balked at the sticker price, and did not investigate further.
她说，许多潜在申请者面对标价犹豫不决，也没有进一步调查。
Many private colleges are feeling pressure to fill their classes.
许多私立大学都感受到了把教室填满的压力。
They are competing for a dwindling number of college-age students, and face a growing skepticism about whether the degree — and its debt — is worth it.
这些大学正在争夺越来越少的大学适龄学生，并面临着越来越多质疑：学位——以及随之而来的债务——是否值得。
Nearly a third of parents and students believe that a college education is overpriced compared with its value, according to a recent Sallie Mae and Ipsos study.
根据沙利美和益普索最近的一项研究，近三分之一的家长和学生认为，与其价值相比，大学教育的价格虚高。
The same study found that 81 percent of families had crossed a school off their list at some point because of its high cost.
同一项研究发现，81%的家庭曾在某个时候因为费用过高而将一所学校从备选清单上划掉。
“The conversation nationally has really become, why is the price of college so high?” Dr. Stuebner said.
“全国范围内的讨论真的变成了，为什么大学的费用这么高？”斯图布纳博士说。
“How many families are we not in conversation with because they see the sticker price and say, ‘Not for me’?”
“有多少家庭看到标价后说‘不适合我’而让我们失去了和他们接触的机会？”
The resistance to tuition increases is a reversal from 20 years ago, when some colleges found that raising prices goosed applications, known as the Chivas Regal effect, as families equated price with quality.
对学费提高的抗拒与20年前的情况完全相反，当时一些大学发现，提高学费会刺激申请，这被称为“皇家芝华士效应”，即学生家庭将价格等同于质量。
Families also liked the prestige of receiving scholarships.
学生家庭也喜欢获得奖学金带来的声誉。
Colleges got into the habit of raising prices every year, and then using financial or merit aid to discount the price for students who could not afford full fare, or for high achievers and athletes whom they wanted to recruit.
大学便习惯于每年提高学费，然后利用助学金或奖学金，为负担不起全额学费的学生或他们想要招收的成绩优异的学生和体育生提供折扣。
