Differential tuition by undergraduate major: Its use, amount, and impact at public research universities

he purpose of the study was to examine differential tuition by undergraduate major at 165 public research universities. The study focused on: the emergence and prevalence of this type of differential tuition; the programs or majors for which differential tuition existed and the amount of the differential; the dates the differentials were considered or implemented; the reasons for implementing or not implementing; the impacts of the adoption and implementation of differential tuition; and how the incremental revenues were used. The study was a descriptive study using the pragmatic mixed-method approach which included a survey instrument completed by chief business officers, a review of institutional websites, and interviews with selected chief business officers to describe the practice of differential tuition by undergraduate program or major at public research institutions.;There were 74 institutions, or 45% which had differential tuition for 17 undergraduate programs. The differential for non-medical related programs ranged from...