Georgetown’s undergraduate tuition for the 2001-2002 academic year increased five percent from the previous year?from $23,952 in 2000-2001 to $25,152 this year. Compared to past tuition hikes, this most recent increase is not an outrageous or even out-of-the ordinary one. But it’s not an insignificant amount either. The tuition increase will result in over almost $8 million in new revenues for the University, and students should be fully aware of where their exactly their money goes.
The University certainly isn’t secretive about how it spends students’ money, but it is vague. According to Assistant Vice President for Communications Julie Green Bataille, the new revenue will go towards, among other things, building and maintaining new facilities, investing in scholarships and financial aid to ensure that all qualified students can attend Georgetown and increasing faculty compensation to attract and retain high quality teachers. How our money is actually apportioned, though, is still unclear. Students, for instance, the majority of whom live in on-campus housing, should know what portion of their tuition dollars go toward improving their own living conditions. Students pay to live here?and when they pay more to live here, they should be aware of what their getting in return.
Public disclosure is particularly important for a university because inevitably some of current students’ tuition is going to pay for services they will never see. Bataille cited the use of tuition dollars to pay for new facilities, for instance. Upperclassmen, at the very least, would not see these, yet some of their tuition dollars go to pay for them. This is not to say that students would oppose these projects or financial aid for future classes. But students should know how their money will serve future students.
Though Georgetown is a private institution, it should be less private about how it spends students’ money. Just as private companies are to some degree beholden to their shareholders, each of whom owns a piece of the company, the University should consider itself beholden to its students, each of whom makes daily investments inside Healy Gates and looks for favorable returns. The University uses increased tuition funds to make students’ lives better and students have enough reasons?almost 8 million of them?to ask how this is going to be done.
