Tuition gamble plays off for Westminster College

FULTON, Mo. -- Eight months ago, officials of Westminster College took a well-calculated gamble by announcing a 20 percent reduction in tuition, surmising that higher enrollment would offset the lost revenue.

Less, it appears, has become more for the liberal arts college.

Based on tuition deposits received so far, a record 820 students are expected to enroll for the fall 2003 semester -- up 8 percent from fall 2002. Administrators had previously predicted that enrollment would reach 820 by 2006 at the earliest.

Tuition for students entering this fall as freshmen or transfers will be $12,300, down one-fifth from the $15,360 new students paid last fall.

The school has said the discount would not be applied to room and board and will not be offered to returning students, given that returning students were already getting a 53 percent tuition discount.

Heading into this fall, "if we had not done the tuition reduction, we would not be achieving the goals we are achieving," said Patrick Kirby, vice president and dean of enrollment services.

When the tuition cut was announced last Oct. 2, Westminster president Fletcher Lamkin said the discount was part of an effort to boost the college's enrollment to 850 to 900 full-time degree-seeking students by 2006. At that time, he said he expected the discount to draw 780 students this fall.

Pricey and small

Research had showed that students were rejecting Westminster because it was too pricey and small, Kirby said. Lower tuition was seen as the fix for both objections, though there was nothing the college could do about students' third complaint -- the college's central Missouri location.

For several years, Westminster's enrollment bounced between 600 and 700 students, while it had classrooms, dormitory space and faculty to accommodate far more.

Enter Kurt Kindschi of Noel-Levitz, a national consulting firm that advises colleges on how best to draw and keep students.

Kindschi helped Westminster run the numbers and reach the decision to reduce tuition, a strategy he says a dozen other small liberal arts colleges around the country have tried.

Another factor in Westminster's decision was its internal goal of spending less of its own money on student financial aid. Narrowing the gap between the sticker price and what students could afford to pay made this possible.

"Not only do we have more students, but we're spending less" on financial aid on them, Kirby said.

Lamkin believes Westminster can get better by getting bigger, with more "rich" academic, social and athletic offerings for students.

And Westminster has room to grow even more -- to somewhere between 1,000 and 1,200 students without having to build more facilities and while retaining the "qualities of a small college," Lamkin said.

"At that point, we'll need to look hard at ourselves and make sure any additional growth is cost-effective," he said.