Coe College announces plan to reduce tuition 45 percent
Coe College will reduce its tuition to $31,850 for the 2027-28 academic year, a 45 percent decrease.
Factoring in tuition, fees, housing and meals, the starting direct cost of a Coe education will total approximately $45,000 — less than or similar to competing private colleges in Iowa, where total pre-aid costs average about $57,000.
The move is the centerpiece of Clearly Coe, an initiative that aims to help prospective students and their families understand the value of a Coe education and apply to the college with a more realistic idea of what they might pay.
“We want to eliminate friction from the college decision,” said Coe College President David Hayes ’93. “We are empowering students and families to prioritize factors like excellence, opportunity and career success rather than price tags.”
The new pricing model effectively reduces Coe’s “sticker price.” Traditionally, many private colleges have set tuition high and offset costs with grants and scholarships awarded throughout the financial aid process. Students and families then do not know how much a college will cost until they’ve filed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
To help reduce some of the uncertainty, Coe will offer both new and returning students a more affordable starting point. Students will still complete the FAFSA, and many will receive merit scholarships or need-based aid that cut their costs even further.
Here is how that works for an average student and their family:
• Start at $45,000 direct cost baseline for all students, which includes the new reduced tuition, fees, housing and meals.
• Subtract your merit scholarship amount, which does not have to be repaid. All students are automatically considered for merit scholarships up to $16,000.
• Subtract your need-based aid amount, which does not have to be repaid. Need-based aid is determined by the 2027-28 FAFSA.
• Subtract work-study aid and loans, which do have to be repaid.
The college expects the change to make it easier to compare Coe to other colleges that have moved to similar pricing models.
“We want to help students focus on the factors that set Coe apart,” said Josh Kite, Coe’s interim vice president for enrollment. “Guaranteed hands-on experiences, one-on-one faculty connections and comprehensive student support make Coe a great value.”
Coe has established an especially strong reputation for college-to-career support. The college embraces a rigorous and hands-on academic approach, and then intentionally overlays guaranteed practical experiences like research and internships with nationally-ranked career services to replicate the demands and opportunities of professional environments.
This focus helps students prepare for life after graduation. For more than a decade, nearly 100 percent of responding Coe graduates have reported being employed, pursuing an advanced graduate or professional degree, enlisting in the military or volunteering full-time after graduation. The national average is 85 percent.
“Clearly Coe isn’t just about bringing clarity and confidence to the college decision process,” Hayes said. “It’s also about ensuring your investment yields the highest potential return.”
While the new model provides a clearer picture of actual costs before students file the FAFSA, Coe will continue to offer early estimates that factor in any financial aid for new students. The college’s financial aid office will provide returning students with individualized projections of their updated costs and aid offers.
In addition to Clearly Coe, the college is continuing its Iowa Ready Initiative, which caps direct costs for students from Iowa at $25,560 — within 10% of the average direct cost at Iowa’s Regent universities.
Students who want to discover what Coe can mean for their goals are invited to visit campus and experience the college firsthand. For more information about Clearly Coe, visit www.coe.edu/clearly-coe.