The University of St. Thomas School of Law said today it’s freezing tuition next fall — and implementing a de-facto tuition cut — making it one of a handful of private Minnesota higher-ed institutions in the past few years to announce such moves.

(Close to 30 colleges and universities have done the same around the U.S.)

First-years enrolling for the 2014-15 term will also save more than $2,000 their initial year through St. Thomas’ switch from a per-credit tuition structure to one that uses a flat fee. The school says it will also freeze tuition for second- and third-year students.

Like a lot of its peers, the law school has been hit by the national enrollment slump. When Dean Rob Vischer spoke to me in July, he was projecting a 16 percent drop in enrollment from the 143 students the school took in last fall.

He told me the school is still financially solid, has a $60 million endowment and an alumni-donation rate of more than 50 percent.

I’ve got a call in about two statements made in the press release:

Tuition has not risen at the School of Law since the start of the 2012-13 academic year. … Tuition now will be spread evenly across the three years, at a rate of $36,843 annually.

(Just trying to get some figures to compare.)

The official announcement is below: