History of the Tuition Exchange

The Tuition Exchange was founded by a group of colleges and universities that wanted to make careers in higher education more attractive. The underlying concept originated from the tradition of remitting or reducing tuition costs for faculty dependents attending their home institutions

In 1952, 41 colleges and universities joined to create the Faculty Children’s Tuition Exchange. A year later, TIAA and the Ford Foundation for the Advancement of Education made a generous grant to support the exchange program. On May 28, 1954, Tuition Exchange (successor to the Faculty Children’s Tuition Exchange) was incorporated.

Tuition Exchange partnered with FACHEX (the Catholic Jesuit Colleges and Universities’ Exchange) and with CIC-TEP (the Council for Independent College’s Tuition Exchange Change) in 2026, giving member schools and families access to a centralized online platform.

Today, more than 8,000 students attend colleges and universities across the United States and abroad on Tuition Exchange scholarships. Those awards represent $325 million in funding, putting higher education within reach for students who might not otherwise be able to pursue their dreams.