Going to college in the United States is a fraught topic for pundits and politicians, who continually raise doubts about the value and purpose of a higher education. It’s too expensive, it’s for elites, it doesn’t deliver needed job skills, and students and families can end up saddled with crushing debt—whether or not the student actually graduates.
But recent polls reveal that graduates still value a diploma. A Harris Poll survey conducted among 2023 college grads revealed that nine out of ten were glad they went to college. They also agreed that a degree is the best way to secure their futures.
According to a report released in June by the Institution for Higher Education Policy, a college degree still has value for about 93 percent of students.
And surveys continually reveal that those with college degrees still earn more than others.
According to the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, based on the analysis of more than 30 million students during the third quarter of 2023, holders of bachelor’s degrees enjoy median earnings of $36,000 or 84 percent higher than those who only have a high school diploma.
That earnings gap continues to widen, especially as all net job growth over the past decade has gone to workers with bachelor’s degrees or graduate degrees per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Regardless of whether a student pursues a degree at a public or a private institution, prospective students continue to face rising costs of attaining their degree goals.
Tuition Going Up
If you look at attending college as an investment in your future, then expect the cost of that investment to continually rise—especially if you attend a private institution.
U.S. News & World Report recently noted that for 2023-2024, the average in-state cost of annual tuition and fees is nearly 75 percent less to attend a ranked public college, at $10,662, as compared to the average sticker price at a private college, at $42,162.
A 2023 report published by Trends in College Pricing noted that over the decade between 2013-14 and 2023-24, the average cost of tuition and fees, adjusted for inflation, has declined by 4 percent for public four-year institutions and increased by 5 percent at private nonprofit four-year institutions.
But perhaps sticker prices don’t tell the entire story.
From a big-picture standpoint, it’s important to keep in mind that Baylor University is a private institution, and it operates differently from the public institutions here in Texas.
“Public institutions get a portion of their budget, which has continued to decline over the last couple of decades, from the state of Texas. As a private institution, we don’t receive those state appropriations,” said Jason Cook, Vice President for Marketing and Communications and Chief Marketing Officer at Baylor University. “Our primary funding mechanism is through tuition and fees. It’s a very competitive marketplace in which we find ourselves as we’re trying to recruit and retain faculty, and that’s been a key driver to some of our tuition increases in the past.”
The flat tuition rate to attend Baylor University is $54,844 for 2023-2024, a 6 percent increase over 2022-2023 rates. (Baylor previously combined tuition with the general student fee into a single tuition rate.)
When the new tuition was announced in February 2023, Linda Livingstone, Ph.D., President of Baylor University, was quoted to have said, “We have worked hard to keep tuition increases small and measured during my tenure as President – increasing on average 3.8 percent in my five-plus years, when in the five years before, Baylor’s average annual tuition increase was more than 5 percent.”
Mary Herridge, Assistant Vice President of Enrollment Management at Baylor University noted that because private and public schools have different cost structures—in-state tuition versus out-of-state tuition—it is difficult to make direct comparisons. Especially when private schools like Baylor offer many services that public schools are unable to offer, such as more individualized instruction, more comprehensive health and counseling services, and more residential staffing support.
“Most students are not paying the ‘sticker price,’” Herridge said. “There’s a lot of money available for college education at the federal level as well as the state level. Our students may be receiving a Pell grant from the U.S. government or a specific grant from the state of Texas. If they’re a high-merit student, they may be receiving a scholarship at Baylor that recognizes their academic achievements. Additionally, we’ve got some need-based grants. A student may have five or six different funding sources that are coming together that take that sticker price down substantially.”
Of course, tuition and fees are just part of the cost of attending college. This year’s cost of attendance—a figure that also includes, room and board, cost of travel, books, and supplies, and living allowance—has increased 30.22 percent over the past decade, according to the website CollegeTuitionCompare.com.
Finding The Money to Make it Happen
Like many private colleges, Baylor University provides a robust financial aid counseling team.
“It’s important to Baylor that students are educated about all of those different funding sources,” Herridge said. “We believe it’s our responsibility to make sure that students know what they’re getting into. We will assess students’ eligibility for need-based aid. Just this last year, we launched a new affordability measure called the Baylor Benefit, a grant aimed at students who have the most financial need.”
The Baylor Benefit program is benefiting the incoming freshman class of 2023 for the most financially disadvantaged students, covering their full tuition. The program is expected to have a significant impact on retention and graduation rates, and the university is hoping to expand the benefits to additional income groups in the future.
“Students can qualify for federal loans and alternative loans, although Baylor does not have its own loan program,” Herridge said. “But they can lock in a guaranteed tuition rate at the beginning of their time at Baylor, they can use an installment plan, work on campus, and they can use 529 savings.”
A 529 plan is a tax-advantaged savings plan to encourage students and their families to build funds for future education costs. They are legally known as “qualified tuition plans” sponsored by states, state agencies, or educational institutions, and are authorized by Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code.
Just to add some perspective to the question of whether students should rely on loans to afford college, the current amount of student loan debt in the U.S. has grown to more than $1.7 trillion, according to Federal Reserve Economic Data. This debt is carried by 44 million Americans. An online survey carried out by Fidelity Investments in May 2023 reported that 67 percent of recent graduates with student loan debt said it was preventing them from participating in major life milestones like buying a home, getting married, or saving for retirement.
A state program established in 1972, the Tuition Equalization Grant (TEG) program has helped lower-income and first-generation students in Texas afford higher education at private universities like Baylor. Students with the greatest need receive up to $5,000 per year. These grants go to more than 27,000 students statewide, of which 2,541 are currently pursuing degrees at Baylor University.
More than 90 percent of Baylor students receive financial aid and 86 percent receive merit-based scholarships, as reported on the Baylor University website.
According to College Transitions, student borrowers who graduated in 2023 accumulated on average more than $37,000 in undergraduate debt. At Baylor, some 48 percent of undergraduates borrowed via loans, graduating in 2023 with an average debt of $46,992. (Efforts by the U.S. Department of Education to provide student loan debt relief to these borrowers have been stalled in the courts as of this writing.)
Providing Everything for Everyone
Promoting the diversity of Baylor University is key to attracting students.
“We believe that diversity is part of the beautiful mosaic that the Lord created so we’re trying to create a diverse student body, a diverse faculty and staff that reflects our community, the state of Texas, and our country as well,” Cook said.
The popular trope in the media over the past decade is that fewer males are attending college and, indeed, that higher education is not as important as it was once considered. Over the past academic year, the gender distribution at Baylor University was 60 percent female students to 40 percent male students. The ratio at Baylor is a mirror of all universities and colleges in the United States.
“We have had some special initiatives over the last few years to try to encourage male students while obviously still engaging and recruiting female students,” Herridge said. “We have been fortunate that our percentages have not declined year over year like some other institutions and our applicant pool has continued to grow.”
Support for students whose families have not gone to college before is another way Baylor has distinguished its attraction for incoming freshmen.
Called the First in Line Success Academy (FILSA), the program “assists students who are unfamiliar with the higher education system to get them acclimated to Baylor their first year,” Herridge said. “It gives them access to additional academic support programs, social programs and it also has scholarship money that’s tied to it.”
As a measure of the success of Baylor University, it was announced in February 2023 that a record 14 students were selected from Baylor for the highly competitive Fulbright awards. With 14 Fulbright grants, Baylor is tied for 16th in the nation among research universities and second in Texas.
From High School Hopefuls to Long-Term Career Success
Perhaps the most important advice Baylor preaches to high school students is when to start thinking about their higher education.
“It’s never too early to start getting exposure to college,” Herridge said. “Students should look for a school that matches their academic interests, their values, and their outside interests.
“We’ve tried to be intentional over the last few years to engage high school students at a younger age,” she continued. “Our admissions counselors travel all over the country and the world, visiting high schools in person and hosting events in cities. Of course, we love nothing more than a student to come for a campus tour and see what it’s like.”
Knowing the direction of your academic path is equally important to ensure a career. Baylor offers career fairs each year, as well as fairs specifically targeted toward internships.
“We provide students who come here with multiple options to transfer to the major of choice,” Cook said. “As higher ed has evolved, the return on investment is important. You need to know what you’re going to do before you get here.”
Baylor University reported that 75.87 percent of students find jobs or start graduate school within 180 days of graduation. That’s higher than the national average.
Looking beyond securing a job and landing a steady income, students should also consider their health. Studies indicate that holders of bachelor’s degrees are 47 percent more likely to have their health insurance paid by their employers and can expect a life expectancy of seven years longer than peers with no postsecondary education.
As inflation continues to rise and higher education institutions battle to overcome enrollment challenges, the good news for students and their families is that college remains a buyer’s market.
