Next Year’s Tuition, Room and Board to Rise 3.85 Percent
University will increase financial aid
The University’s trustees have set the 2011–2012 academic year’s standard tuition at $40,848 and room and board at $12,710, President Robert A. Brown has announced.
The combined increase of 3.85 percent is one of the lowest percentage hikes in the last 40 years, Brown said in an email sent to students and parents last Thursday. He also acknowledged the financial sacrifices families make for college.
“We understand that this tuition increase is a burden for many families, and we continue to focus on maintaining access to Boston University for students with varying economic means,” the president wrote. “Currently, 55 percent of our undergraduate students receive financial assistance from the University. Our total undergraduate aid budget for the coming year is projected to be $210 million, up $15 million from one year ago, an increase of 7.7 percent.”
BU’s increase is equal to or less than those planned at several other schools. Six of the eight Ivy League members have announced cost increases of between 3.8 and 5.9 percent, including Harvard’s 3.8 percent; only Princeton came in below that, at 1 percent, and Columbia hasn’t yet announced next year’s charges. Wesleyan’s costs are to rise 3.8 percent, Boston College’s, 3.6 percent, and Northeastern’s, 4 percent.
The email said the new charges allow funding “for a very modest level of growth of our faculty and for further improvement in our student services.” The University’s budget will cover “modest” raises for faculty and staff and some “unavoidable” cost increases, Brown wrote, notably employee health care expenses, which will rise an anticipated 13 percent next year.
Executive Vice President Joseph Mercurio says the University is undertaking numerous projects that are supported by tuition, projects that “will provide improved facilities, services, or both to graduate and undergraduate students.”
He cited the 208-student residence hall under construction at the Medical Campus, the Center for Student Services on East Campus, installation of wireless access campus-wide, and renovations of numerous rooms and buildings, from Rich and Sleeper Halls to chemistry labs and Walter Brown Arena.
“We remain committed to providing an exceptionally high-quality education and well-rounded academic experience to our students,” Brown wrote in his email.
Rich Barlow can be reached at barlowr@bu.edu.
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