Dive Brief:
- Net tuition revenue won’t grow faster than inflation for most nonprofit higher education institutions in the U.S. in fiscal 2015, Moody’s Investors Service reports.
- Private colleges and universities are projected by Moody’s to have net tuition growth of 2.7%, compared to 1.9% for public schools, with inflation projected at 2%.
- Overall enrollment is projected to increase 1%, but 37% of public colleges and universities will suffer enrollment declines, along with 45% of the private schools.
Dive Insight:
Fewer high school graduates will make the competition for freshman enrollment “particularly intense” for colleges and universities in the Midwest and Northeast, Moody’s reports. For the credit ratings of higher ed institutions, the net tuition per student growth figures are important: Less than 20% of Aaa-rated universities project declining net tuition per student, while nearly 40% of the Baa-rated universities say they expect their figure to decline.