Does Offering Students Cash Incentives Enhance or Dilute a University Brand?

On Monday I read in The Chronicle of Higher Education about a London Sunday Timesstory that featured British Universities offering cash incentives to students who enroll in underpopulated programs. Apparently some reporters went undercover and posed as students to find out how the incentives work.

Perhaps because many European universities, and those in other countries, are now charging tuition or increasing tuition, the practice of offering students incentives to enroll is news. Here in the United States offering students incentives is a regular part of the admissions process. Just like businesses in other industries, schools need to compete.

Do you think it is wrong for colleges and universities to offer students incentives to enroll? What about families of P-12 age students?