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It is important, Schroeder said,
for Bradley to stay on top of
trends, particular job trends, if
it is to remain competitive. “We
have to be sure we are position-
ing ourselves to know where the
jobs are as well as what incom-
ing students are interested in
doing. There is no silver bullet.
One good way to look at trends is
through SAT testing,” he said.
“
At the same time we also
need to recognize where our core
strength is. We can’t go chasing
new majors just because they
might be the hottest new thing,”
he said.
Bradley’s cost is often cited
in central Illinois as a potential
deterrent to attracting local high
schoolers. But Schroeder said it
isn’t that much more expensive
than some of the public univer-
sities in the Midwest and less
expensive than many top private
universities in the Midwest.
Typically, he said, there is quite a
different in costs between public
and private universities, but pri-
vate universities such as Bradley
will typically offer more in the
way of merit student aid as well
as need-based aid.
Bradley’s tuition, room, board
and fees in 2012-2013 is $36,964
for Illinois residents enrolling
in business, engineering or the
sciences. That is only slightly
higher than the public universi-
ties of University of Wisconsin
(
$36,114), University of Iowa
(
$35,600) and the University of
Illinois ($30,212). Schroeder said
the U of I is probably Bradley’s
chief competition for students.
The highest tuition and such
among private universities in the
Midwest are at Loyola of Chi-
cago ($47,615), Illinois Wesleyan
(
$46,822) and St. Louis Univer-
sity ($45,066). Among schools in
the Missouri Valley Conference,
Drake University’s cost for 2012-
2013
is $38,236.
“
We already know we compete
very well with any college in the
country in terms of the quality of
education students are provided
here. We also are more competi-
tive than we have been in terms
of cost with some of the public
colleges and a big reason for that
is our costs have not risen at the
same rate. Because of the state’s
financial problems tuition costs
have gone up at public univer-
sities so they can compensate
for the fact public funding isn’t
keeping up with the expenses.”
Schroeder said.
He added he doesn’t foresee a
large increase in costs for Bradley
in the near future. “We like where
we are right now in relation to
the other schools,” he said. “That
is why we tell prospective stu-
dents to do comparisons with as
many schools as they want but to
wait to make a final decision after
they have all their financial aid
information in hand.”
It all also allows Bradley to
be more selective in admissions.
Schroeder said he would term
Bradley as “moderately selec-
tive.” For example, this year it
will probably accept 65 percent
to 70 percent of the applicants it
receives for next school year.
The Present
