Tuition rises 5.29 percent
Energy and health-care costs a factor
The BU Board of Trustees has set tuition for the 2006–2007 academic year at $33,330 and the basic room and board rate at $10,480, for a total of $43,810. The combined rates represent an overall increase of 5.29 percent.
The announcement was made in a March 22 letter sent to students and their parents by President Robert A. Brown. “Although this increase compares favorably with the increases being enacted by our peer institutions, we recognize fully that it represents a financial burden to you,” wrote Brown. “We continue to strive to improve the quality of educational and student life experiences for all Boston University students while trying to control expenses.”
Brown noted that rising energy and health-care costs have created additional challenges at BU, as well as at other organizations across all sectors of the economy. The University, however, continues its efforts to decrease expenses in other areas without sacrificing the integrity of its academic programs, according to Brown.
BU also makes a continuous effort to provide more students with financial aid and to keep utility expenses down through conservation initiatives, says Joseph Mercurio, the University’s executive vice president. “In addition, we’ve negotiated long-term contracts that lock in our energy prices,” he says, “so that we’re not subject to the spikes occurring in the general energy market.”
Mercurio adds that BU is also making progress in increasing revenue from sources other than tuition, including income from research grants and fundraising. “We plan to bring philanthropy to an even higher level at BU,” he says, “particularly to support scholarships for students, in an effort to make the cost of attending Boston University more affordable.”
Brown wrote that BU “is one of the great private, urban universities in America. Our student body is the brightest and most competitive in the University’s history, and the caliber of a Boston University education has never been greater. We will continue to focus on delivering a first-rate education to our students and to further enhancing the quality of life.”