Many private colleges have been driven by the idea that families believe high price equals high quality. And with this belief private colleges have embraced an escalating tuition model known as “prestige pricing.” Over the past two decades tuition at private colleges has risen by an astounding 157 percent, or three times the rate of inflation. This is unacceptable.

The truth is that while tuition keeps going up, many private colleges give massive discounts in the form of merit aid to the vast majority of accepted students, which means very few students actually pay the full sticker price for college. Unfortunately, 60 percent of Americans don’t understand that the prestige price is not the real price, and many without the means to pay full price choose not to apply at all.

The few who know how to play the financial aid game understand that they can negotiate a lower price and, acting rationally, they do so. Colleges respond in kind, competing for students by attempting to “outscholarship” one another through the use of merit aid, which can have little to do with merit or ability to pay. The end result is that merit aid now consumes a large percentage of dollars once reserved for low-income students.

At St. John’s we are done with the false notion of “prestige pricing.” We will set our tuition at a price point that is much closer to what students are likely to pay, and we will commit ourselves to clearly defining what constitutes merit aid and award it more honestly. This aid will be awarded to students who meet St. John’s College’s definition of merit: to those who are avid and ambitious readers; who exhibit deep curiosity about the world around them; thoughtfulness and insightfulness; courage in asking hard questions of the world—and of themselves; and commitment to seeking meaning in their lives.

We are also re-committing ourselves to providing the kinds of generous need-based aid, which our current students receive, to future Johnnies.

No. In 2017, the Chronicle of Higher Education issued a report in which 60 percent of Americans did not understand that a college’s advertised price is not the price that most students pay. At St. John’s College, 53 percent of students who were admitted in 2017 but chose not to enroll attributed their decisions to “cost” and “financial aid.” Many likely did not realize that St. John’s has a history of providing generous aid packages to make the school more financially accessible. It is irrational, and perhaps unethical, to engage in a pricing phenomenon that sends the message to most students that they should not even consider us. Consequently, we are implementing a new tuition price that is more in line with what more students are likely to pay, while committing ourselves to providing need-based aid to those who need it.

We are also recognizing the fact that America’s economic realities are different than they were a decade or two ago. In the past, the college received approximately 70 percent of our budget from student-derived revenue (tuition, room, board and fees). In 2017, we received less than 40 percent from student-derived revenue. We believe that the days when students could pay the exorbitant advertised prices that had built up in higher education are gone, and that they are not coming back. Our new price recognizes this reality, which exists across higher education.

To address it, the college’s new financial model will place philanthropy—rather than student-derived revenue—at the center of our model. Freeing Minds: A Campaign for St. John’s will raise $300 million dollars by 2023, ensuring that the education the college provides will remain transformative for generations to come, that the best and brightest students will become Johnnies regardless of their financial circumstances, and that St. John’s continues to free minds.

Across the country merit aid has become a way for many private colleges to give massive discounts to students in order to drop the real cost far below the sticker price, which often has escalated through “prestige pricing.”

The few who know how to play the financial aid game understand that they can negotiate a lower price and, acting rationally, they do so. Colleges respond in kind, competing for students by attempting to “outscholarship” one another through the use of merit aid, which can have little to do with actual merit or ability to pay. The end result is that merit aid now consumes a large percentage of dollars once reserved for low-income students.

Access to college shouldn’t be a bewildering game with hidden rules.

We commit to offering an honest education at a more honest price, maintaining an affordable tuition, allocating significant resources to support students with financial need, and moving toward a model in which we award merit scholarships for those who best represent the qualities of a “Johnnie.”

At St. John’s College merit aid is not primarily about test scores, a class rank, or a well-written essay. Here, it’s about identifying the students who exhibit the best qualities of a “Johnnie”: avid and ambitious reading habits; deep curiosity about the world around them; thoughtfulness and insightfulness; courage in asking hard questions of the world and of themselves; and seeking meaning in their lives—and making sure they know they belong here.

In 1978, St. John’s College cost $4,000 per year in tuition and fees. In the past 40 years, undergraduate tuition has risen to more than $52,000. If we had continued with this trend, in 10 years tuition would cost almost $70,000 and the total cost of attendance would have been upwards of $86,000. This is not acceptable.

Notably, 53 percent of the students who were admitted to St. John’s in 2017 but chose not to enroll attributed their decisions to “cost” and “financial aid.”

But much of what makes St. John’s so distinct also makes St. John’s so expensive—our unwavering commitment to small seminar classes, to the finest full-time faculty in the country, to not using or abusing adjunct faculty, and to providing the Program to students at both ends of the country on small campuses.

In recent years we’ve tried to address escalating tuition by instituting increasingly generous aid packages to relieve the burden placed on students, but our published tuition price continued to go up. Too many potential Johnnies took one look at our tuition price and never even applied, and therefore never even had the chance to understand that significant financial aid packages were available. But more importantly, they never had the chance to experience the Program.

We know that only students from the wealthiest families can pay the full tuition price of many private colleges and that middle and working-class families struggle to pay for college. And we know many students and their families certainly can’t afford the actual cost.

We can no longer ask so many students to mortgage their future in order to have a future, nor can we afford to miss out on qualified applicants because our tuition sends the message that they should not even consider us.

There is a better, more sustainable, and more honest way. In order to provide the unique education that defines St. John’s to all who seek it, we are embarking on a new financial model that is philanthropy-centered, one that recognizes the diminishing role of student-derived revenue and the negative effects of an ever-increasing sticker price. We are putting a stop to “prestige pricing,” and through the new philanthropy-centered financial model, we are making St. John’s more accessible for our students by lowering annual tuition from over $52,000 to $35,000 and aligning it more closely with what a student will actually pay.

Fortunately, graduate programs, including the Graduate Institute, have not been subject to the practice of prestige pricing and the cost per credit hour to attain a master’s degree at St. John’s is nearly equivalent to the new undergraduate tuition. However, to show our appreciation to our Graduate Institute students, we are implementing a tuition freeze for our GI students and there will not be an annual 3 percent tuition increase for the 2019-20 school year.

There are hundreds of different kinds of higher education institutions in our country, but there is only one St. John’s College. The education we offer on our campuses should be accessible and affordable to Americans of all backgrounds and financial circumstances.

This bold vision and ambitious campaign will ensure the education the college provides will remain transformative for generations to come—that the best and brightest undergraduate and graduate students will become Johnnies regardless of their financial circumstances.

Very few families can contemplate paying $52,000 a year for college, and data tells us that today’s students have fewer resources than did recent generations. The tuition component of our new financial model will make St. John’s more accessible to future students by lowering our tuition to $35,000. The philanthropy component of our new financial model—our Freeing Minds capital campaign—will allow St. John’s to continue to provide need-based financial aid so that students all of backgrounds can afford this education.

St. John’s College has a history of generous aid packages, and philanthropy will now play an even larger role to help make St. John’s College accessible for most students. The freshman class in Fall 2018 received more than $6 million in aid, and 85 percent of that was need-based aid awarded by the school.

We are embarking on a new philanthropy-centered financial model that makes St. John’s more accessible for future students by lowering annual tuition to $35,000, beginning with the Fall 2019 class of new students. All students will be automatically enrolled at the lower tuition of $35,000 for the 2019-20 school year.

Through the new philanthropy-centered financial model, and after surveying our own alumni on tuition pricing issues, the Board has decided to lower the maximum annual tuition a student pays to $35,000. While this is still a big number, it eliminates more than a decade of tuition increases.

It is important to note that the $35,000 annual tuition makes St. John’s one of the most affordable small private liberal arts colleges. We hope this lower “sticker price” will help prospective families understand that what we offer is within their reach. We hope it will encourage students and families to inquire further and learn of our long-standing commitment to generous aid packages based on established financial need. The capital campaign and resulting increase in our endowment will serve to solidify our ability to meet the financial need of all qualified students who would benefit from our distinctive Program.

Our new tuition recognizes the reality that many students cannot and do not pay full tuition at St. John’s, nor at many private colleges across America. By reducing our advertised tuition price to $35,000, we are sending the message to families who were turned off by our $52,000 tuition that we are, in fact, within reach.

Our new philanthropy-centered financial model is comprised of two essential and concurrent actions: a reduction in our advertised tuition price and an increase in philanthropy. Through philanthropy, we will fund the difference between the true cost of our education—more than $60,000 per student—and the new, lower tuition.

That’s why St. John’s is launching Freeing Minds: A Campaign for St. John’s College, a $300-million capital campaign, which will ensure the St. John’s experience will be made available to those who seek it. Our alumni and friends agree and believe in the St. John’s education so strongly that we are able to announce a truly transformational pledge—and the largest gift in the history of St. John’s. Alumni Warren and Barbara Winiarski have created a challenge grant from the Winiarski Family Foundation, which matches every gift to any fund, dollar-for-dollar, with a gift to the endowment up to $50 million as a part of the Freeing Minds campaign.

This visionary gift, combined with the two $25-million leadership gifts from alumni Ron Fielding and Warren Spector, which came in during the quiet phase of the campaign, will ensure the St. John’s education is available for generations to come. And moving from a tuition-centered financial model to a philanthropy-centered financial model will fuel St. John’s ability to continue the Great Conversation and preserve the essence of what makes the college so very distinct.

This is our first year implementing the new tuition, and because each family’s financial circumstances are different we don’t yet know what the average annual tuition will be after aid is applied.

Philanthropy has been and will continue to be what helps make St. John’s College accessible for most students, and St. John’s will continue to provide generous need-based financial aid so that students of all backgrounds can afford this education.

In addition to need-based aid we will offer merit aid to those who exhibit the best qualities of a “Johnnie“: avid and ambitious reading habits; deep curiosity about the world around them; thoughtfulness and insightfulness; courage in asking hard questions of the world—and of themselves; and seeking meaning in their lives.

Tuition does not include fees, room and board. Students who elect to live on campus can see the average total cost of attendance.

Fees, room and board may increase to reflect costs and an annual standard cost of living increase. Students who elect to live on campus can see the average total cost of attendance.

No, not at all.

Much of what makes St. John’s so distinct also makes St. John’s so expensive—our commitment to small seminar classes versus large lecture-style halls, to maintaining the finest full-time faculty in the country instead of cutting costs through the use of adjunct faculty, and to providing the Program to students at both ends of the country on small campuses. We are unwavering in our commitment to providing this educational experience for our students, and through philanthropy our new financial model will help fund the difference between what is costs to educate a student at St. John’s and what a student pays.

Instead of being subject to an annual increase in tuition, which would bring the 2019-20 tuition price to over $54,000, all students will be automatically enrolled at the lower tuition of $35,000 for the 2019-20 school year—meaning that for the first time in a generation, students won’t have a tuition increase from one year to the next, and no student will pay more than $35,000 in tuition.

Students who receive need-based aid or merit scholarships are already beneficiaries of the college’s significant aid program and should not expect to see large changes in their bill under the new tuition. St. John’s College will continue to meet current students’ need, though aid levels will be reduced to reflect the impact of the new lower tuition. Students who receive need-based financial aid will be informed of their 2019-20 awards once they complete their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

One of the greatest benefits for returning students is there will not be an annual tuition increase in 2019. Unless their family’s financial circumstances change, the amount a student pays in 2019-20 under the new tuition will be similar to and likely lower than the amount they would have paid under the old financial model.

The campaign and tuition change will ensure the financial stability of the college and raise its the college’s profile nationally, and increased giving will grow our aid over time, ensuring that more people recognize the unique value of the St. John’s degree you will carry with you into the world.

In addition, increased giving through the campaign will help us grow our aid over time. It will also increase our investments in career services and alumni engagement, which will strengthen the St. John’s network and benefit you both now and throughout your career and life.

In recent years we tried to address escalating tuition by instituting increasingly significant aid packages to the best of our abilities given financial constraints, with the goal of relieving the cost burden placed on students and families. We know, however, that many alumni still have significant student loan debt, especially those who were enrolled prior to the college’s attempt to lessen the burden through additional aid programs. We recognize the new financial model will not alleviate their debt burden, and we regret that the college could not act sooner to lower tuition. We are committed to doing better.

Alumni are the heart of St. John’s College, and they are invaluable to the college—they are the best representation to the world of the transformative and unrivaled education experience found here. We hope our recent graduates will endorse our new financial model as vital to the success of the campaign, to the school’s longevity, and even more importantly, to future Johnnies.

St. John’s is committed to maintaining an affordable tuition price and allocating significant resources to support students with true financial need, and a tuition freeze will be in place for the 2019-20 school year.

We commit to offering an honest education at an honest price, to transparency in our tuition pricing. And in the spirit of honesty and transparency, we can say we don’t know yet if we will raise tuition after the 2019-20 school year. We would like to maintain the $35,000 undergraduate tuition for as long as possible.

In 1978, an undergraduate education at St. John’s College cost $4,000 per year in tuition and fees, and in the past 40 years undergraduate tuition has risen to more than $52,000. If we had continued with the trend of 3 percent annual tuition increases on top of our current tuition of $52,000, in 10 years undergraduate tuition would have cost almost $70,000. This is not acceptable for any of our students, and we are putting a stop to this practice before it impacts our graduate programs as well.

Fortunately, graduate programs, including the Graduate Institute, have not been subject to the practice of prestige pricing and the cost per credit hour to attain a master’s degree at St. John’s is nearly equivalent to the new undergraduate tuition.

Currently, our Graduate Institute students pay $1,031 per credit hour for each of the 36 hours in their master’s degree. In the undergraduate program, students currently pay roughly $1,525 per credit hour for each of the 136 hours in their degree. Under the new financial model undergraduate students will pay roughly $1,029 per credit hour, better aligning the per credit hour cost of a bachelor’s degree with a master’s degree.

St. John’s College is committed to providing the same level of aid that returning students have always received, although our exceptionally high levels of aid will be reduced to reflect our new lower tuition.

Unless your family’s financial circumstances change, the amount you pay in 2019-20 under the new tuition will be similar to and likely lower than the amount you would have paid under the old financial model, and students who receive need-based financial aid will be informed of their 2019-20 awards once they complete their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

For example, if you received $25,000 in financial aid from St. John’s scholarships, grants, and loans, your 2018-19 tuition payment of $52,734 was reduced to $27,734. If we continued with the current model, tuition would increase to $54,316 for the 2019-20 school year and your total tuition payment after aid would increase to $29,316, or an additional $1,582. Under the new tuition model, your aid will decrease to $7,226 to align with the new lower tuition of $35,000, making your tuition contribution the exact same as the 2018-19 academic year—$27,734

St. John’s College has a history of generous aid packages and our new philanthropy-centered financial model and endowment will help us, over time and by the end of the campaign, better meet the needs of our students.

Philanthropy has been and will continue to be what helps make St. John’s College accessible for most students. Our exceptionally high levels of aid will be reduced to reflect the new lower tuition, but St. John’s will continue to provide significant need-based financial aid so that students of all backgrounds can afford this education.

In addition to need-based aid we will offer merit aid to the students who exhibit the best qualities of a ‘Johnnie’: avid and ambitious reading habits; deep curiosity about the world around them; thoughtfulness and insightfulness; courage in asking hard questions of the world—and of themselves; and seeking meaning in their lives.

The new financial model and tuition will begin with the Fall 2019 class of students. As a January 2019 freshman, the 2018-19 tuition will take into account the upcoming drop in tuition and students will be the beneficiary of our significant aid program, which brings the tuition price far below the advertised price.

Instead of being subject to an annual increase in tuition the following year, all students will be automatically enrolled at the lower tuition of $35,000 for the 2019-20 school year—meaning that for the first time in a generation, students won’t have a tuition increase from one year to the next.

Students who receive need-based aid or merit scholarships will continue to benefit under the new, lower tuition, and will be informed of their 2019-20 awards once they complete their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). St. John’s College has a history of generous aid packages, and although our exceptionally high levels of aid will be reduced to reflect the new lower tuition, St. John’s is committed to providing for the needs of our students.

The new, lower tuition will benefit returning students in the same way it benefits new students, and one of the greatest benefits for returning students is there will not be an annual tuition increase.

The college motto, “I make free people out of children by means of books and a balance,” speaks to our enduring promise–to develop citizens who dialogue with those of opposing viewpoints; who wonder about the origins of others’ ideas; and who resist crude appeals to fears and anxieties. In short, St. John’s College frees minds, but one thing we have not done is free our students from the worry and burden of a crushing debt load.

We have to do better. And we will do better.

That’s why we are embarking on a new philanthropy-centered financial model that makes St. John’s more accessible for our students and lowers annual tuition from over $52,000 to $35,000. To do this, St. John’s is launching Freeing Minds: A Campaign for St. John’s, a $300-million capital campaign, which will ensure the St. John’s experience will be made available to those who seek it.

Freeing Minds: A Campaign for St. John’s will be as different from the campaigns of other schools as our Program is different from their educational offerings—it will not fuel construction of a football stadium or waterpark, but it will fuel St. John’s ability to continue the Great Conversation and preserve the essence of what makes the college so very distinct. Freeing Minds will add $200 million to our endowment, $50 million to further strengthen the finances of the college, and $50 million in essential improvements needed on both campuses. Through an outpouring of support and increased endowment, we will reverse the trend of spiraling tuition rates by placing philanthropy at the center of our financial model rather than student-derived revenue.

Our alumni and friends agree and believe in the St. John’s education so strongly that we are able to announce a truly transformational pledge—and the largest gift in the history of St. John’s. Through the Winiarski Family Foundation, alumni Warren and Barbara Winiarski have created a challenge grant which matches every gift to any fund, dollar-for-dollar, with a gift to the endowment up to $50 million as a part of the Freeing Minds campaign. This visionary gift underscores the principles of the campaign—that a St. John’s education should be affordable and accessible to all qualified Johnnies.

This bold vision and ambitious campaign will ensure the education the college provides will remain transformative for generations to come—that the best and brightest students will become Johnnies regardless of their financial circumstances, that St. John’s continues to free minds.

Freeing Minds: A Campaign for St. John’s College officially ends in 2023, but campaign pledges will continue to come in from planned gifts and other sources for many years after that.

The Winiarski Challenge is a transformational pledge to the Freeing Minds campaign, and upon meeting the challenge will constitute the largest gift in the history of St. John’s College. Through the Winiarski Family Foundation, alumni Warren and Barbara Winiarski created the Winiarski Challenge Grant matches every gift to any fund, dollar for dollar, with a gift to the endowment up to $50 million as a part of the Freeing Minds campaign. 

Every gift made to any fund at St. John’s College will be matched, dollar for dollar, with a gift to the endowment up to $50 million dollars. That means that donors may apply their gift to any fund, or directly the Freeing Minds capital campaign, and it will then be matched through the Winiarski Family Foundation with a gift to the endowment. 

The goal of the campaign is to more than double our endowment from its pre-campaign level, which was approximately $130M. The campaign officially ends in 2023, but funds will continue to come in from planned gifts and other sources for many years after that.

Once all campaign gifts are received, we will have added $200 million to our endowment, resulting in a total endowment of $330 million. We will also add $50 million to further strengthen the finances of the college through support of the annual fund other current use contributions, and $50 million in essential improvements needed on both campuses.

Every gift at every level is meaningful to the campaign and will help ensure there is a Johnnie chair at the table for all who seek it.

With your support, we will show the world how valued the St. John’s experience is. We hope you will join us in our campaign to free minds and make the college more affordable and accessible to future Johnnies.

In an increasingly polarized world such as ours, where people talk over each other and rarely listen, where statements of opinion, rhetoric and hyperbole are accepted as fact, a St. John’s education is more vital than ever.

We hope that our new financial model will galvanize our alumni around our capital campaign.

The impact of a larger endowment cannot be overstated—achieving the capital campaign goal will allow future Johnnies, regardless of financial need, to engage in the Program and sit around a seminar table in a Johnnie chair and learn in the same manner as alumni did.

Gifts to the annual fund will also impact areas that alumni care about, such as career services, student supports, tutor supports, and campus improvements.

Alumni support of the new financial model is vital to the success of the campaign, to the school’s longevity, and even more importantly, to future Johnnies.

​​​​​​We have already received significant commitments toward our $300 million goal during the quiet phase of the capital campaign, including two early and vital leadership gifts of $25 million from alumni Ron Fielding and Warren Spector. In addition, we are able to announce a truly transformational pledge—and the largest gift in the history of St. John’s. Through the Winiarski Family Foundation, alumni Warren and Barbara Winiarski have created a challenge grant, which matches every gift to any fund, dollar-for-dollar, with a gift to the endowment up to $50 million as a part of the Freeing Minds campaign. 

With these and other early donations we now have $183 million in campaign commitments toward our goal, and once donations come in from our community to match the Winiarski Foundation challenge, we will be nearly 80 percent to our goal.

The vision to make St. John’s College accessible for more students depends on the philanthropy of friends, alumni, supporters and believers of our Program, and we know our vision will be realized through their generosity.

No. Thanks to fiscal discipline and a bold vision for the future, we have reduced expenditures and are on a path to achieve a balanced budget by 2021. As of our campaign launch in September 2018, we have received $183 million in commitments also raised $133 million toward our $300 million Freeing Minds capital campaign goal, including two early, vital leadership gifts of $25 million each from alumni Ron Fielding and Warren Spector, and a $50-million challenge grant from the Winiarski Family Foundation and alumni Warren and Barbara Winiarski’s Winiarski Family Foundation, which is the largest gift in St. John’s College history. 

The campaign will ensure the financial vitality and viability of the college and it will also allow us to support our faculty, provide opportunities for growth for our staff, continue to improve the campus experience outside the classroom, and offer enhanced opportunities for our students to explore career options. 

Freeing Minds: A Campaign for St. John’s, will eventually add $200 million to our endowment, $50 million to further strengthen the finances of the college, and $50 million in essential improvements needed on both campuses.

Once all campaign gifts and pledges are received, we will more than double our endowment and inject more than $10 million annually into our operating budget and the impact of this cannot be overstated. Achieving the capital campaign goal will make the college more affordable and accessible, allowing future Johnnies, regardless of financial need, to engage in the Program and sit around a seminar table in a Johnnie chair like the generations of students before them.

The college’s continued fiscal discipline, combined with the campaign, will ensure the financial vitality and viability of the college and it will also allow us to support our faculty, provide opportunities for growth for our staff, continue to improve the campus experience outside the classroom, and offer enhanced opportunities for our students to explore career options. In fact, if you visit classes 10 years from now, the experience of the Program for students and faculty will remain fundamentally unchanged.

Through hard work and hard choices, with the sacrifices being borne by our dedicated faculty and staff, we have cut our deficit and are on our way to a balanced budget by 2021. We could not have gotten this far without them, and we appreciate all the work and all they have offered to get us here.

The campaign will ensure the financial vitality and viability of the college and it will also allow us to support our faculty and provide opportunities for professional growth for our staff.

No. St. John’s College has two small campuses with a fixed number of facilities that we do not intend to outgrow nor add on to. Our education is the same as it’s always been: One or two full-time faculty members around a table with 8 to 21 students engaged in meaningful dialogue. And we have an unwavering commitment to offering the St. John’s Program to students at both ends of the country on two small campuses, each with a 7:1 student to faculty ratio.

The capital campaign will transform how we are able to meet students’ financial needs, but it will not transform the Program or how we engage with it—in 10 years’ time, we envision the campuses and classrooms will look much as they do today.

The impact of lowering tuition will be dramatic because it lowers one of the most significant barriers for students applying for college—and that is recognizing that St. John’s College is an attainable and realistic option for them. By removing this barrier, we will increase enrollment, but we will not expand beyond our facilities’ capacity.