College can be Affordable, Accessible, and Deliver ROI – We Have Proof

By Aarti Dhupelia, Vice President & Founding Dean of the Undergraduate College at National University

Is college worth it? Why is it so expensive? Is a bachelor’s degree necessary to get a high-paying job? Debates about the value of college are more prevalent than ever, and they center on questions of ROI.

Certainly, more and more employers are revising some job requirements to remove the need for a bachelor’s degree. These companies should be applauded for their willingness to challenge the status quo, as unnecessary barriers to career and economic prosperity should indeed be removed – and this trend will likely accelerate for many jobs.

Simultaneously, evidence suggests that the value of a bachelor’s degree remains undeniable. One recent study found that, while there are variations based on factors such as occupation and field of study, on average, there is a $1.2 million lifetime earnings gap between students who earn a high school diploma versus those who earn a bachelor’s degree. Another study found that higher education leads to greater wealth, health and happiness, and in parallel, it benefits society through higher tax revenues, stronger levels of civic and community involvement, and less strain on social services and the criminal justice system. 

It is also true that the out-of-pocket cost for a bachelor’s degree, particularly in some states such as Illinois, has dramatically increased in recent decades. According to U.S. News & World Report, the average debt balance of a graduating student nationwide is $30,000. These costs can severely affect a student’s decision to attend college.

While many factors may have led to increased tuition prices over time, three big factors include rising labor costs, declining public funding of higher education and insufficient innovation and vigilance on the part of colleges to be more efficient in their operations.

The result is that college has remained out of reach for far too many students, exacerbating equity gaps for historically marginalized students – those who would be first in their families to attend college, Black and Brown students and low-income students. So, while colleges are supposed to level the playing field, in most cases, they are failing in that mission. It is no wonder people question the value of college.

For colleges to survive in a competitive market with increasingly skeptical prospective students and deliver on the promise of empowering all individuals to achieve career and life success, colleges must address what is in their locus of control with respect to proving ROI. Undergraduate education must be re-imagined to be affordable, laser-focused on the skills learners need to be successful in careers, and accessible to learners of all backgrounds.

National Louis University (NLU), a private nonprofit institution based in Chicago, has proven how to do all this at once with the recent design and rapid growth of its innovative Undergraduate College. The university has demonstrated that a bachelor’s degree can be affordable and accessible for students – and financially sustainable for a higher education institution – while also fueling the economic mobility of its graduates.

Established in 2018 and serving nearly 4,000 students in 2023, the annual tuition and fees for our undergraduate program total under $12,000. This is among the lowest price tags in Illinois, equating to zero out-of-pocket costs for students in the lowest income bracket who receive maximum state and federal financial aid.

Serving an undergraduate population that is approximately 70 percent Pell-eligible, 70 percent Black or Latinx, and 70 percent first-generation college-goers, the institution has indeed made college more accessible to all learners. Here’s how we did it.

We provide a professionally focused, rigorous, supportive academic experience that helps students learn, earn their degree and achieve their career goals. The modernized undergraduate student experience involves:

• Structured course pathways to degrees so that students graduate on time and prepared for a broad range of careers – without wasting time or money on unnecessary classes.
• Small class sizes and active learning environments which ensure that students learn rigorous content and are able to connect with each other and professors to get the support they need.
• One-on-one guidance from a success coach every term to guide students throughout their academic journey and offer one-stop support for their professional and personal development.
• Robust wraparound supports such as mental health counseling, a food pantry and emergency funds to address unexpected personal needs that can become barriers to persistence.
• Career development and placement support which are integrated into every course pathway, preparing students to secure not only a diploma but also a job and path to economic mobility in their chosen field after graduation.

Rethinking the undergraduate experience can also keep operating costs down, enabling universities to sustain themselves financially on the revenue generated from affordable tuition. Sources of efficiency include:

• Maximizing facility utilization: Full-time programs that require students to meet on-campus for class two days per week while the rest of their work is completed online can help universities double the number of students enrolled on-campus relative to what a traditional four-day per week class schedule would allow.
• Teaching-focused faculty: Allowing faculty to focus all their time on teaching or coaching other faculty, with no research expectations in their workload, means they can teach more courses and dedicate more time to students.
• Focused course offerings: Structured course pathways for general education, majors, minors and concentrations – with few electives offered – can ensure well-rounded options while also streamlining the course schedule, which optimizes class size and curriculum design costs.
• Affordable electronic textbooks: Utilizing online courseware and Open Educational Resources (OER) instead of hard copy textbooks in almost all courses reduces textbook costs to less than $50 per course on average while ensuring access to high-quality resources.
• Focused student experience: Student engagement opportunities outside of class should focus on career and leadership development, civic engagement, and racial and cultural affinity groups, with the tradeoff being no costly athletic programs offered, helping tuition to remain affordable.

NLU’s approach is one formula for ensuring affordability, accessibility and ROI. Another emerging strategy is expanding access to credit for prior learning so that students get college credit for work and life experience, thus accelerating them on their paths to degree completion. Institutions are also increasingly exploring earn-and-learn models, where students work while they are in school and earn credit for on-the-job learning, again expediting time to graduation.

Additional strategies must emerge, and strategies may vary in different cities, states and types of institutions. But as higher education’s value continues to face scrutiny, continued innovation regarding the student experience and college cost model will be necessary. I encourage college leaders nationwide to commit to this continued innovation to ensure affordability, accessibility and ROI for all students. It’s possible, and it’s necessary.