Net tuition revenue can do more than just help you crack the enrollment trend. In fact, there are tons of unexpected benefits that can come from adopting a net tuition strategy. Private schools of every type and size can benefit from this tuition and pricing model.

Every school’s goals are different, but if net tuition revenue is something you’ve been considering, here are a few more reasons this could be a good option for your school, in addition to helping you increase your student enrollment numbers. 

5 Benefits of Adopting a Net Tuition Revenue Model

Implementing a net tuition revenue model can do a lot of good for your school. Here are a few of the benefits of this approach.

1. Quickly increase your cash flow

For schools that are short on tuition revenue, implementing a net tuition revenue strategy can help you see more tuition dollars sooner and increase your cash flow. 

For example, if you only accept full pay students, there may not be enough families that can afford the open spots. Thus, you may end up with 3 empty spots- and zero tuition dollars for those students as a result. 

However, with a net tuition revenue model in place, you can fill the remaining 3 seats with partial-pay students, and see at least 30-50% of the tuition dollars you were hoping for. 

2. Fill more seats and boost enrollment numbers

If you have additional capacity, a net tuition revenue strategy can help you quickly grow enrollment and see an increase in your student numbers. Adopting a net tuition revenue strategy can help correct a several-year enrollment decline and ensure you hit your goals for new student enrollments. With reduced tuition options (or a higher discount depending on how you look at it), more families will see your institution as an affordable and a viable option. 

3. Control your school narrative

Adopting a net tuition revenue model can help you direct the narrative of your school. You have an advantage in marketing when you have a school that’s full. If you aren’t at capacity, there’s pressure on you to make bigger admissions decisions and there may be negative perceptions circulating due to declining enrollment. 

Net tuition can help you control that narrative. With net tuition revenue, you’ll be able to admit more students and appeal to a wider audience. The goal is to be able to say things like, “We just hit a 20 year high in student applications and we have X amount of spaces left.” 

4. Increase diversity & access to your school

Approaching enrollment within a tuition revenue strategy increases access to diversity in so many ways. Your school can be incredibly diverse if you don’t have any constraints over your revenue and can offer more assistance to families. You can open up your school socioeconomically, ethnically, and racially. 

Higher ed has been taking this approach for a long time. If you’re making good business decisions and offering more spots to families that may not be full pay, it will ultimately benefit everyone involved because your school is going to be more sustainable and you can appeal to more families. 

5. Help you rightsize

You can pair a net tuition revenue strategy with rightsizing. A lot of times the schools that are struggling with enrollment are too big. They’re bigger than they should be. That could be because of a changing market they haven’t adjusted to yet, or it could be due to changes in costs paired with rising tuition and families not being able to pay. 

Rightsizing your school will help you make sure your school matches your market from a size perspective and that your staffing structure and cost structure match the school that you want to be. It can also help accelerate change. It’s not always helpful to keep building and expanding capacity. The decision to rightsize is a difficult one, but it’s another tool you can add to your toolbox. 

Making a Decision & Getting Buy-In

Many successful schools have chosen to adopt a net tuition revenue model. Implementing this strategy could make all the difference in your enrollment growth in the coming years. It also comes with some unexpected benefits, like the ability to control the narrative of your school and the opportunity to increase diversity. 

It can be a great tool to add to your toolbox and implement at the right time. But it’s up to your school to decide if it’s the right move for you at this time. If you’re ready to move forward with this strategy, you may still need to get your board or CFO to back you on it. Getting buy-in for new tuition strategies isn’t always a walk in the park, but there are a few ways to make this conversation, and future ones, go more smoothly. Check out a few tips for getting your CFO’s buy-in for a net tuition revenue strategy.