A growing number of private colleges and universities said they are slashing tuition prices to attract more student revenue.

Administrators said they are trying to get more middle and low income students who qualify for free financial aid to come to their schools. 

Those students not only bring more guaranteed money through aid, but they also go into more debt than higher income students.

Cabrini College in Philadelphia has cut tuition by 12.5 percent making tuition and fees under $30,000.

Lincoln College slashed fees 24 percent.  The Illinois school said it's charging $23,000 a year for tuition and fees.

University of Charleston, in West Virginia, has reduced tuition and fees to $20,700 dollars.  That would be a 22 percent reduction.

The biggest cut was at  Duquense University in Pittsburgh.  They cut costs by 50 percent in the form of a grant for freshmen who enroll in Duquesne's School of Education. The average tuition and fees for the current school year is $14,355.

Seton Hall in New Jersey and William Peace University in Raleigh, North Carolina have also cut prices.

The cuts came as the average annual cost of tuition and fees at a four-year private university for the current academic year was $28,500.  That was a 15 percent increase from five years ago