Dive Brief:
- Ripon College, in Wisconsin, will cover the cost of tuition for in-state undergraduate students whose families make $75,000 or less a year, beginning fall 2025.
- The private college will also price match its tuition to listed rates at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for in-state students from households that make above $75,000.
- To be eligible, incoming first-year or transfer students must live on campus and file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, Ripon announced Wednesday. The program will cover eight consecutive semesters for first-year students and four for transfer students.
Dive Insight:
Some analysts have predicted that private regional colleges — especially those with high acceptance rates and small student bodies, such as Ripon — will face increased competition from public institutions as the pool of prospective students shrinks.
Ripon's enrollment has declined 17.7% over the last decade, decreasing to 766 students in fall 2022, according to federal data.
The college's new financial aid program, called the Ripon Commitment, functionally renders its publicized tuition cost moot for Wisconsin students.
Ripon's annual tuition sticker rate in the 2024-25 academic year is $51,600. But beginning next fall, the most Wisconsin students could pay is what UW-Madison charges undergraduates — currently $11,606 in tuition and fees for in-state students.
In fall 2022, almost two-thirds of Ripon's students, 63%, were from Wisconsin, according to federal data.
"The Ripon Commitment opens doors for students in Wisconsin who may have thought higher education at a private, liberal arts school was out of reach," said Victoria Folse, the college's president, in a Wednesday statement.
Colleges, especially private ones, charge only a small share of college students their full sticker price, and Ripon is no exception. The liberal arts institution said it provides every undergraduate student with financial assistance.
In 2022-23, Ripon listed its tuition sticker price as $49,300. The college’s total cost of attendance was listed at over $10,000 more for some students.
But that year, students whose families made $75,000 and under paid less than half that, with the average annual cost ranging between $16,721 and $18,323, according to College Scorecard data. Average annual cost represents what students who receive federal financial aid pay to attend college, including their living expenses, after scholarships and grants.
UW-Madison also offers an expansive aid program.
Any Wisconsin student who comes from a family making less than the state's average income can attend the flagship with four years of free tuition. In 2022, the median Wisconsin household earned just under $71,000 annually, according to census data.
