The recent decision to increase undergraduate tuition by six percent has sparked student indignation and anger. Although these increases are smaller than last year’s and consistent with a nationwide trend of rising college costs, the anger is not unreasonable given the University’s tight-lipped approach to its tuition policy. Students need to put these tuition increases in perspective, but the University must give them the information they need to do so.
University tuition must rise every year to keep up with the ever-increasing cost of providing higher education. Contrary to the beliefs of many students, undergraduate tuition does not finance deficits in the Medical Center. In fact, last year’s Main Campus budget was balanced.
University spokesman Erik Smulson cited energy costs, technological costs and financial aid as just a few of the university expenditures that increase faster than inflation.
Craig Kessler (SFS ‘07), who sits on the Main Campus Planning Committee, called attention to an even more important, but often overlooked, expenditure: faculty and staff salaries. The Main Campus Planning Committee is the last to see the University budget before it is submitted to the Board of Directors.
Kessler said faculty contracts are written so that salaries increase every year at a rate faster than inflation. This is true at most of Georgetown’s peer institutions as well. Faculty turnover is already a problem at Georgetown—reducing faculty salaries to save tuition dollars can only exacerbate the situation.
Students should rest assured that the tuition increases will likely have little effect on the Georgetown’s socioeconomic diversity. According to Dean of Student Financial Services Patricia McWade, Georgetown has a policy of “meeting full need,” which means that tuition increases should have no overall impact on students receiving financial aid. Moreover, Georgetown’s need-blind admissions policy, by which a student’s financial situation is never a factor in his or her acceptance, should mitigate the deterrent effects of higher tuition.
Georgetown’s six percent increase in tuition is in step with the national average increase of 5.9 percent. These increases are normal, regular and, according to Kessler, fairly predictable. They should not come as a surprise to students.
Yet every year they do. If the University wants students to accept tuition increases, it must change that. Currently, the University provides no indication to incoming students that tuition will increase. Many universities only levy yearly tuition increases on the freshman class; George Washington University, for example, indicates on its admissions web site that listed tuition will remain the same for 10 semesters. It is therefore unsafe to assume that students and parents will understand the dynamics of tuition change at Georgetown. The University’s admissions and financial aid web sites, however, are silent on the subject.
Georgetown’s annual tuition increases are consistent with national trends, and they are reasonable given the financial realities the school faces. However, Georgetown must clearly articulate its policy for both its current and prospective students’ benefits, beginning with posting its policy directly on the admissions web site.
