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La Salle University Reduces Tuition By 29 Percent

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Tuition is actually going down at one area university, by nearly 30 percent. La Salle University officials made the big announcement Tuesday afternoon.

The university is turning back the clock, resetting tuition from $40,400 to what students paid back in 2008, $28,800 a year.
 
"Which is huge for a university," said junior Alyssa McFadden. "Not only in the tuition cut, but for the coverage, and just showing that La Salle really cares about their students."
 
La Salle President Dr. Colleen Hanycz said  keeping college affordable has always been a major priority for the private university.
 
"This year, we were the only university in our region who chose to freeze tuition at last year's rates," she said.
 
The decrease will go into effect for the 2017-2018 school year.
 
Hanycz said  in the end, most students will only save between $1,000 to $1,500, as institutional aid will also be reduced with the lower tuition. 
 
"Getting grants and scholarships definitely helped make my decision to come here, but now that the tuition is going down even lower, it's definitely great," said freshman Kyle Konowal.
 
Rosemont College started the trend last year, when the school announced that it would be slashing tuition by 43 percent this school year. 
 
Rosemont President Dr. Sharon Hirsh said the move has paid off tremendously, with applications up 64 percent.
 
"We have the largest entering new students in probably the school's history, all coming in at one time," Hirsch said.
 
Like Rosemont, La Salle's administration and students alike are hopeful the move will attract more families, who saw the school as too expensive to consider.
 
"With this new lower tuition, it'll definitely bring in a lot more, at least a lot more looks, you can check it out and maybe fall in love with it like a lot of people do here," said freshman Ryan Baruffi.
 
Unfortunately for graduate students, only undergraduate tuition will be reduced. Room and board are also not a part of the tuition reset.
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