The increase in tuition, room and board costs for the 2011-12 academic year, approved by the Board of Trustees at a meeting early this month, may not have significant ramifications for financial aid.
The 3.5 percent price hike will apply to both undergraduate and graduate students, with the exception of law students, who will see a 5.75 percent jump. This puts next year’s undergraduate tuition at $40,050 and room and board at $12,291, compared with this year’s $38,700 and $11,876, respectively. The increase is reminiscent of last year’s 3.5 percent rise in costs.
Campus Health Services Fee for fall 2011 will be bumped up to $173 per quarter, reflecting a similar 3.5 percent increase.
Students on financial aid will not be impacted by these changes as long as their financial situation has not changed, said director of financial aid Karen Cooper.
“Every year students reapply for financial aid and we assess their eligibility,” she said. “As long as circumstances haven’t changed in their family, then I estimate they will have the same estimated family contribution as last year, and therefore will have more eligibility for aid.”
In fact, the financial aid budget will expand to $122 million to offset the jump in tuition and room and board fees. According to Cooper, this will take place despite a “slight decrease” in applications for financial aid this year. This expansion in financial assistance only represents a one percent increase from the current $118 million.
“Our financial aid budget is always created with the caveat that we are need-blind in our admission process and need-based in our financial aid process,” Cooper said. “We have a commitment to meet the demonstrated need of all the students that enroll. Even though we have a $122 million budget, if we need more, we will spend more.”
Financial aid will remain unaffected partly because it is funded by the University endowment, not the tuition. Tuition covers 57 percent of the University’s general funds budget, said Board of Trustees Chair Leslie Hume.
“This is a balanced tuition increase, it is going to enable the University to achieve the recruitment of faculty and salary increases that we would like to do, as well as gradual reinstatement of positions that when the recession hit were frozen,” Hume said in a previous press briefing.
Only international students, whose financial aid is not need-based, and students with financial responsibility will be affected by the rise in costs.
“For all students, both continuing and current students, we’ve increased the amount of student responsibility by $250,” Cooper said. “By that, I mean the student’s expectation to work during the summer or during the academic year has been increased by a total of $250.”
Many students expressed apathy toward the tuition increase.
“It sucks, but I’m assuming the Board isn’t just gratuitously raising tuition,” said Sharad Bharadwaj ’14. “It’s to pay for professors, students and good programs.”
“I’m not that worried about it, because the increase in financial aid will take care of the students who it’s going to affect the most,” said Greg Greiner ’14.
Regardless of their approval or disapproval, students acknowledge that their opinion will not change what has happened.
“Honestly, there’s nothing I can do about it” said Eva Hellman ‘14.