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The College Board’s recent Trends reports on college pricing and student aid have painted a not unexpected picture of rising college tuition coinciding with rising demand for student aid. In this financial climate, it becomes all the more critical for colleges and universities to communicate the value of their offerings clearly to financially concerned prospects and applicants. We asked Robert Massa, vice president for communications at Lafayette College, for some key strategies on how colleges can better convey to their audiences why they are worth the price, even as tuition continues to rise. Massa emphasizes the importance of developing a clear message that connects the cost of education, how the cost impacts price, and the specific value students are getting for that price. Connect Cost, Price, and Value In many cases the public is not aware of everything that adds to the cost of education — faculty salaries, the price of information technology, health insurance, facilities costs, specialized programs such as study abroad or majors with extensive fieldwork. “So first,” Massa advises, “convey the cost.” Second, clarify how cost affects pricing. For private institutions, more of the costs are passed on to the students through tuition; for publics, states are […]