Brandeis’ New AI Tool Upends Admissions With Price Transparency

A sign marks the entrance of Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

The rules behind college admissions are meant to be opaque at selective colleges and universities, as bestselling author (and my Future U. cohost) Jeff Selingo documents in his book Who Gets In and Why.

Because the rules have been written this way, changing them—for example, by giving all students clear information up-front on what they would pay in tuition should they get admitted and enroll—isn’t as straightforward as it sounds.

In part, that’s because at many colleges, the administration itself doesn’t know the answer to that question until, at minimum, it sees who actually applies for admission.

Brandeis University is now changing that practice for all students. It has just launched a new, artificial intelligence-powered tool called Faye (that is, FA for financial aid) that will calculate the precise price a student would pay based on their personal academic and financial information should they apply and be accepted to Brandeis University.

The tool is designed to be simple—but the work behind it is anything but.

During a recent lunch with Arthur Levine, the president of Brandeis, Jennifer Walker, the vice president enrollment management, and Sherri Avery, the assistant vice president of student financial services, it became clear just how complex this seemingly simple task is. It has required significant changes both within specific departments as well as to the various processes across the University.

Yet despite the challenges, “It’s the right thing to do,” Levine said.

Levine, a Brandeis alum who has served as president at other institutions, recounted how he could not have attended Brandeis without a full ride. But providing a full ride is not enough.

In Levine’s telling, higher education as a sector is seen as too expensive, out of step with the times, and not willing to change.

By changing the core curriculum to…

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