"Bridgewater College announced Monday that its tuition price is decreasing from $40,300 to $15,000 — an almost 62% decrease — starting in fall 2024, a move by the college to create a more transparent picture of the price to attend, the private college said.

Private schools like Bridgewater are unique, however, because they almost always offer students attending the college large discounts and financial aid packages to help manage the cost. Bridgewater President David Bushman said these high “sticker prices” discourage students from applying and make families skeptical of the value of higher education.

'I want to make sure the students who really could thrive here — the students for whom Bridgewater is the best place — I want them to look at us to apply,' Bushman said. 'I would rather us talk about the value that we have rather than this high sticker price, high discount pricing model that everybody’s been using for over 40 years,'" reports the Daily News-Record.

Photo: Information sessions are held at the Forrer Learning Commons during move-in at Bridgewater College Thursday. Daniel Lin / DN-R