Education as we all know, is not free; particularly good education. Insitutions of learning have different fee components that they charge for, these include Exam, registration, tuition, exam, room and board, etcetera. Some of these fees are fixed, but some can be negotiated particularly tuition fees. Some of these costs are paid directly out of pocket daily by the student to the service provider, while some are paid directly to the school.

Tuition is the fee the school asks students to pay for classes. Without the payment of tuition fees, you cannot take classes. Tuition fees can be paid per class, although there is a minimum number of credit units required by most schools to remain a student. Tuition and fees vary from college to college. Private schools cost more in terms of tuition fees than public colleges.

The average cost of tuition and fees at state colleges are $11,181 and $41,411 per year for private colleges in the US. In the UK, its between 10,000 -38,000 pounds per year. The amount of funds you can negotiate from the tuition fees depends on the amount of money the school will offer. Most times they can give a discount of between 5% and 15% on request.

Why will Colleges give you a discount?

Colleges give discounts because they realise the fees are really high and difficult for many to keep up with. Their citizens mostly go through college on school loans. International students do not have access to any of those, and therefore have to pay out of pocket.

Colleges also give discounts to serve as carrots to pull the student in, because they have a quota of student popultion to fill. Its better to give a slight discount and get in 50 students than maintain the price and get in 5 students. This increases the amount of funds that come into the institition’s coffers.

They also need to fill their diversity quota, and so need international students. The modern world is big on diversity, and this is one thing international students look out for.

Offering students discounts on tuition will help boost the school’s rating. Every college and university wants to be listed as one of the best in every category, and to achieve that, they offer all sorts of discounts to students.

Never forget that international students fees are much higher than indigene fees, so they need the fees you pay to provide the much needed funding for the school.

Any student coming in, able to pay the fees must be either rich or come from a rich home, they want more rich students to balance out those on scholarship.

How to negotiate.

To negotiate a discount, its important to put in your application early along with your admission application. Early bird discounts are the best usually.

Its not usually openly advertised that you can negotiate your tuition, but you can. Apart from scholarships and grants, a discounted tuition is something you can negotiate with the finance department and get.

Remember that there is no shame in asking.

You can also ask for a staggered payment plan, if the bulk payment will be difficult. Remember these institutions will prefer that you come in, and will most times bend over backwards within limits to ensure you get enrolled.

Private colleges are often the ones that offer the most discount, public colleges also offer financial aid to new students looking forward to being part of their institution.

Your tools for negotiation are

Very good grades.  We cannot overemphasize the fact that every school wants intelligent students. Your excellent grades are a veritable bargaining chip. Powerful at that!

Excellent SAT scores. This immediately puts you in the class of the selected few that the school wants in their system.

An applicant should have at least 1250 SAT or 24 ACT before considering negotiating.

A unique resume of your college achievements detailed and interesting. This should include your community projects and other none academic achievements that make you stand out. This is where those extracurricular activities will come in handy. If you are a sports person, here’s your chance!

Add some top rated colleges to your application. This makes them know, they are not the only good colleges you are considering.

Starting early, helps you get the best the schools have to offer.

A few more tips for negotiating college tuition

Apply to colleges you can easily afford

It is best to apply to colleges that will reduce their tuition. Doing that will help increase your chances of getting a good tuition deal. It is extremely important you send applications to colleges where your tests and grades are above their average.

You can easily negotiate your tuition with the college of your choice when your grades are higher than their minimum. Your grade is an important tool for negotiating college tuition. You can use thediscount one college gives you as a negotiating tool for a different college.

Make your interest known to the school

In other to negotiate tuition with a college, you need to make your interest properly known to the school. Most colleges will negotiate tuition with you if they observed how interested you are in the college and how much value you’d be adding to the college.

For all the colleges you have applied to, you need to show your interest in each one of them as they often track the emails sent to students, always check the mails and respond as appropriate, and also find time to visit the school, attend online interviews, visit their official webpage to keep abreast of available scholarships and grants.

Contact the admission Office

In order to start the negotiating process you need to send the admission officer in charge an email explaining the reason why you need a discount on your tuition. The admission office of a college is usually in charge of handling the enrollment of students, they are also in charge of offering scholarships and discounts to students.

You can also the admission office, explaining that you need some financial aid for your fees. It should be more like you asking for any way they could be of help. The next steps will be explained to you, on how to move forward with the application.

They usually request you send a letter making your request with reasons. A response might take close to two weeks since it will need to go through the right procedures. Sometimes you need to book a call with the financial officer. This is usually a video call of some sort. This is an opportunity most times to explain why you need this aid or fee reduction.

Be Polite

Regardless of how young they might seem to you, always be polite, the age of the person you are speaking to doesnt determine what powers he or she has to determine what waiver you can get. Colleges make use of scholarships, discounts, and other financial aids to get students to enroll in their schools they want you in their institution as much as you want to enroll there.  When you’re writing an email or making a call, or meeting up for an appointment, always be polite and nice to the person you’re talking to.

When negotiating, don’t be arrogant because you have other offers, but be calm, understanding, and polite, and when the meeting is no longer going the way you expected, still remain calm. Get to understand how their tuition is being calculated and how it can help you.

Discuss competing offers

When the negotiation process seems to stall, you need to make them understand you have competing offers from other colleges and how you’d be willing to accept them.

Colleges need students, especially private colleges. Attaching the names of colleges and the financial aid they’re willing to offer, in the email will help them understand your point, while writing the email, you need to be polite without sounding rude.

It is not a negotiation, but a request for aid.

When requesting financial aid from colleges, ask for what aid can be given to enable you meet up with the fees payment.  Even when it is a negotiation, avoid using that word. Ask for the scholarships you can easily request, and give the room to explain things to you.

Avoid Making ridiculous waiver requests.

There is no harm in asking for more money, but most educational institutions have a limited amount of money in their scholarship budget, and will most likely refuse to increase the amount offered.

When you request a huge amount of money, the college might not consider your request, but when you request funds that can be easily granted, the college will consider your request.

You can find out from their student community how much others have been able to get, so it guides your negotiations.

If you decide to ask for more money, the least a school can do is say no, however you can apply for other scholarship offers available in the school or you can write a letter to the school’s financial aid office to appeal for more funds.

Remember that if its not a scholarship, most schools cannot give a waiver of up to 50%. That happens with a scholarship or a grant.

CONCLUSION

It is possible to negotiate your tuition fees, never say never. You just need to be strategic, and work with a plan. Remember that if you apply to a school that is way out of your league financially, even if you get a 50% discount, you may still not be able to afford it! All the best as you negotiate your tuition in 2022