Starting in fall 2025, listed tuition for all new and continuing undergraduate Bethel University students will decrease from $44,050 to $25,990, part of an effort to cut sticker prices to provide more transparency on cost, according to university officials.

The cut will apply to students in the College of Arts and Sciences, the university’s undergraduate college. Scholarships and federal financial aid will be available for additional support, according to the university in Arden Hills.

The cut is possible, when it might not have been in previous years, as the university has reduced investments in some programs and increased it in others that are growing in order to support enrollment volume, said Joel Costa, Bethel University chief financial officer and vice president of operations.

Those investments have largely been in the university’s healthcare and mental health-related programs, according to Paul McGinnis, Bethel University vice president of marketing and enrollment.

“We are coming at this in a position of financial strength for the university after having realigned our expense base with our enrollment realities over the last couple of years,” Costa said.

With the listed tuition decrease, students’ financial assistance packages will be revised, but no current students will see their total cost for the 2025 to 2026 academic year exceed what it would have been before the change, according to the university.

Communication goes out to students

Current students have received a letter or email from the university going over what their financial aid would have been before the tuition change and what it is now, McGinnis said.

“And instead of creating those feel-good discounts, we’re going to just say, you know what? We’re not going to do that. We’re just going to say what our tuition is,” he said.

Decades ago, sticker prices and net prices for universities and colleges were much closer together, McGinnis said. The model of having a higher sticker price was well-intentioned, he said, having students that could afford to pay more do so and then using that additional revenue to support low-income students through scholarships.

However, though net prices for private colleges have stayed relatively flat for the last 15 years, sticker prices have gone up astronomically, McGinnis said.

Many students, especially first-generation students and those from underrepresented backgrounds, aren’t aware of that difference between sticker and net price and will not even consider private colleges as a result, McGinnis added.

From fall 2022 to fall 2023, Bethel University’s undergraduate enrollment numbers grew 1.4%, but fell 5% from fall 2020 to fall 2023 and have not yet gotten back to pre-pandemic levels, according to McGinnis. Student numbers did grow in all of the university’s four schools by 3% from fall 2022 to fall 2023.

Other private schools

Concordia University in St. Paul, which slashed its tuition by a third for the 2013 academic school year, has grown its enrollment numbers since making the cut.

Tuition at that time went from $29,700 per year to $19,700 per year. In the fall of 2012, Concordia enrolled 1,200 undergraduates. In the fall of 2023, that number was at 1,723 and the university expects another record for fall 2024 enrollment numbers, according to Joe Thornton, communications representative for Concordia University.

Concordia’s undergraduate tuition for the 2024 to 2025 academic year of $25,600 also remains lower than the university’s tuition price had been before the 2013 cut.

It’s one thing to do a tuition reset and another to maintain it, said Eric LaMott, Concordia University provost and chief operating officer.

“That administrative discipline to focus on the net revenues ongoing and not to jump to try to increase tuition too fast, or ways that limit the student enrollment, that’s an area we often see schools that start this and then end off failing because they don’t maintain discipline, and really aren’t keeping the students at the center of their decision making,” LaMott said.

The University of St. Thomas uses a traditional tuition pricing model with an emphasis on scholarships that help make tuition as affordable as possible for students and their families, according to university officials. While the publicly-listed tuition price is $52,820 per year, it’s important to note that 100 percent of first year students are offered a four-year St. Thomas Scholarship, upward of $25,000 annually.

Meanwhile, tuition at Macalester College and fees for full-time undergraduates in the academic year 2022 to 2023 was $62,500, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. But the average net price for full-time undergraduates for that year was $38,571.

A different list price

Some university leaders may believe an institution could appear less prestigious with a lower tuition sticker price. And, students may see smaller scholarships as not recognizing their work. However, that’s not necessarily reflective of the university’s overall value, said Bethel University President Ross Allen.

With the cut Bethel is making, the university is going to go against some norms and demonstrate its value and emphasize clarity, Allen said.

“We are going to continue to have the same value, the same quality, the same program that we’ve had. It’s just at a different list price,” Allen said.

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A North Branch man who allegedly crashed his car into another, leaving a 6-year-old girl with life-threatening injuries, claimed at the scene that a woman was driving the car at the time of the crash, according to a criminal complaint.

Joe David Campbell, 39, was charged Tuesday in Chisago County with four counts of criminal vehicular operation, great bodily harm while under the influence.

Joe David Campbell (Courtesy of the Chisago County Sheriff’s Office)

Chisago County deputies responded to the crash near the intersection of Stacy Trail and Falcon Avenue North, on the west side of Kwik Trip, Saturday at 10:34 a.m.

Deputies saw a Kia sedan and a Volkswagen sedan with significant collision damage in the middle of the roadway, according to the criminal complaint. Multiple people were also at the scene, attempting to provide care to those injured inside the Volkswagen.

A man was in the Volkswagen driver’s seat and a woman in the front passenger’s seat. A 6-year-old and 17-year-old were in the back seats. The driver told deputies that as he exited Kwik Trip to turn left, the Kia traveling at a high rate of speed and fishtailing struck his vehicle, according to the complaint.

Both cars sustained heavy damage, and airbags went off according to the complaint. The Kia’s front passenger seat belt was in the resting position, revealing that it was not being used at the time of the crash.

Kwik Trip video footage of the crash shows Campbell exiting the Kia’s front passenger door immediately after the crash. Campbell told responders and deputies a woman was driving the Kia. All evidence from the scene did not align with his claim, according to officers.

Campbell smelled of alcohol and was placed under arrest.

A helicopter transported the 6-year-old to Gillette Children’s Hospital, where she was admitted into the pediatric intensive care unit. The child sustained a head injury and acute respiratory failure as a result. She was intubated at the hospital and is receiving continued treatment, according to prosecutors.

The 17-year-old sustained a rib fracture as a result of the crash. The driver and passenger sustained minor injuries.

Medical staff at M Health Fairview Hospital took a blood sample from Campbell at 12:52 p.m. Saturday. The sample will be submitted to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for toxicology, according to the complaint.

At the hospital, deputies said Campbell’s behavior fluctuated dramatically. At times he would would yell and act extremely hostile with hospital staff, then later would calm down and be apologetic. Campbell also had a difficult time staying awake.

Campbell is currently in custody in Chisago County.

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CLEVELAND — For parts of this season, Jorge Alcala has been among the Twins’ top bullpen arms, serving as an option in later innings.

But Alcala hasn’t been the same in the second half of the season and particularly since a blowup in Texas a month ago, during which he allowed five runs and recorded just two outs in the seventh inning of what became a tough loss.

Still, Alcala had been among the Twins’ later-inning options, unlike some of the pitchers who remain on the roster, making the decision to option him to make room on the roster for newly-claimed Cole Irvin a surprising one to many.

There were multiple reasons the Twins made this move, Alcala’s recent performance included, according to Twins manager Rocco Baldelli and president of baseball operations Derek Falvey.

Other reasons include the fact he still has minor league options, which means the Twins do not have to designate him for assignment and risk losing him as they would with some others. And the Twins are in a position where they need length from their bullpen with their three rookie starters — Simeon Woods Richardson, Zebby Matthews and David Festa — often not making it through five innings.

Alcala has pitched two innings a handful of times, but a reason for keeping, say, Louie Varland, who also could be optioned, over Alcala is that Varland spent much of his season starting and can give the Twins more length.

Over Alcala’s past month, including that day in Texas on Aug. 18, he has a 10.38 earned-run average, giving up 10 runs in 8 2/3 innings. He has given up runs in five of his past nine outings and home runs in four of those. Alcala did not give up a home run until mid-July, but he has found himself more susceptible to the longball.

It’s the third time the Twins have optioned Alcala to Triple-A this season, though he has been in the majors since May 24.

“The last few weeks have been tough. He has given up a lot of hard-hit balls and home runs and things like that,” Baldelli said. “He still has good stuff. We still believe in him. We still anticipate him doing a lot of good things for us over time.”

Irvin joins Twins

When his father recently asked him about the possibility of being designated for assignment by the Baltimore Orioles, Irvin told him he thought there was about a 1 percent chance.

“Then, what do you know? I got the call,” Irvin said.

The Orioles designated him for assignment n Sunday. On Monday, the Twins claimed him off of waivers.

While he said he was disappointed to leave his friends and former teammates, he took a positive approach about the opportunity he has in front of him, joining the Twins as they fight for a playoff berth.

“I’ve got so much joy and happiness. There’s so much opportunity,” Irvin said. “I’ve heard so many good things about this organization, in terms of how they handle the pitching staff, how they help players get better.”

Irvin has started and relieved this season for the Orioles and said he’d be prepared for whatever the Twins ask of him.

“Be ready — that’s what I’ve been told,” Irvin said. “That’s what I’m going to do, be ready. … Just looking forward to just getting on the mound again and providing innings where the team needs it.”

Kepler gets cortisone shot

Max Kepler’s return from the injured list has been delayed after the right fielder reported feeling soreness in his hip/groin area, Falvey said.

Kepler received a cortisone shot Monday, and if he responds well, they will start ramping up his activity with the goal of him playing in Triple-A games by this weekend. That could potentially put him on track to return to the Twins next week.

The right fielder originally landed on the IL with patellar tendinitis in his left knee. Kepler’s knee is doing better, Falvey said.

Briefly

Bailey Ober will take the ball on Wednesday opposed by Guardians starter Tanner Bibee. Ober has had mixed results against Cleveland, giving up five runs in a four-inning effort in May and shutting the Guardians out for six innings in August.