Northwestern students will pay $1,536 more in tuition costs next year, but this 5.4 percent increase is on par with changes at many peer institutions, and university officials said students on financial aid will not be heavily affected.
The Board of Trustees voted Saturday to increase tuition from $28,404 to $29,940, with room and board fees rising 4.75 percent from $8,814 to $9,233. The combined increase is the highest in six years and will help NU meet higher energy and health care costs.
At Washington University in St. Louis, tuition will rise 4.9 percent from $28,300 to $29,700. Like NU, Washington’s increase was slightly higher than in past years because of financial constraints. Tuition increases at the university have averaged between 4.5 and 5 percent, said Barbara Feiner, vice chancellor for finance and chief financial officer at Washington.
“There’s been pressure,” she said. “The last few years, endowments weren’t great.”
Yale University’s tuition hike was also higher than in past years. The university usually averages a 2 to 3 percent jump, but this year tuition increased 5 percent, to $29,820 from $28,400.
“It’s in part due to the fact that the increase in the endowment has slowed a little bit in the last couple of years,” said Tom Conroy, a spokesman for the university.
A change in endowment is only one factor that determines a tuition increase. At Stanford University, a 4.5 percent increase in tuition for next year is small compared with those of recent years. In 2003 the university’s tuition grew 4.8 percent, and in the years preceding 2003, tuition increased as much as 6 percent.
One of the factors contributing to Stanford’s lower increase this year is a $46 million operating surplus, said Stanford spokesman Ray Delgado.
Despite the increase at NU, some students said they aren’t shocked or disappointed by the rising costs.
“You just have to accept that private school (tuition) does go up every year,” said Jen Cowman, a McCormick senior.
Provided that the money set aside for financial aid increases with tuition, the effects of rising costs should be minimal, officials said.
Rebecca Dixon, NU’s associate provost for university enrollment, said the university’s financial aid grant fund of about $52 million will increase by the same percentage as tuition.
Next year about $2.8 million more in financial aid will be allotted to students, although the exact amount will vary because it is based on a formula that takes into account the size of the student body over three years and subtracts out students on scholarship.
Financial aid remains stable for most students unless there is a significant change in the family’s finances, but Dixon added that tuition remains an important factor for many students.
“These are real increases and that’s one reason we must increase the grant fund,” she said. “If we didn’t, five years from now we’d be in pretty bad shape.”
Still, the increased grant fund doesn’t always spell financial bliss for students on financial aid.
Emma Hanke, a Weinberg sophomore who works 10 hours at a work-study job each week to help pay her tuition, said her aid package decreased this year, but the problem isn’t so serious that she needs to transfer.
“I am on a lot of financial aid,” Hanke said. “So as long as my grant money goes up proportionally, I don’t really think the university is taking advantage of us. I think it’s natural for them to do this.”