Via Professor Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit.  Last month Concordia University in Minnesota announced it is slashing all prices in an effort to attract new students. Smart move or publicity stunt?

Jenna Ross of Star Tribune reports.

Concordia University is pairing two words that don’t often come in contact — “tuition” and “cut.”

The St. Paul school will announce Wednesday that it is lowering its undergraduate tuition and fees by $10,000, or 33.7 percent, to $19,700 for the next school year. It will become the first college in Minnesota to slash its sticker price. But it joins a few others across the country who have responded to growing concern about the rising price of college with a similar dramatic move.

Just a handful of Concordia undergrads now pay the full $29,700 in tuition and fees. But Concordia hopes to attract families who are being scared off by the published price.

“It’s been a bigger and bigger challenge for us to get those individuals to even consider us,” said Prof. Eric LaMott, Concordia’s senior vice president and chief operating officer. “The high discount isn’t fixing the problem, because they don’t even look.”

Concordia believes it’s making a bold move toward greater affordability and transparency in a marketplace that’s demanding both. But some experts believe such markdowns are gimmicks that lead to little lasting change.

“It’s partly a publicity stunt,” said Mark Kantrowitz, a college finance expert who tracks tuition cuts and freezes. “Everybody loves a bargain.”