Departments
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Week of 8 January 1999 |
Vol. II, No. 18 |
Feature
Article
Tuition increase among lowest in 25 years
In one of the lowest tuition increases of the past quarter century, the BU Board of Trustees has set tuition for the 1999-2000 academic year at $23,770 and the basic room and board rate at $8,130. The combined rates represent an increase of 3.9 percent -- the same as last year's.
The announcement was made in a December 30 letter sent to students and their parents by Earle C. Cooley, chairman of the board. Cooley wrote that the change represents "the University's continuing effort to moderate price increases while strengthening our academic programs." He cited the competitive market for outstanding faculty members at top colleges and universities, along with specialists such as information technologists, laboratory technicians, librarians, and scientific machinists. Cooley also cited the particularly high labor and housing costs in the Boston area as factors contributing to the increase. But the rate has been slowed, he said, by ongoing cost-containment efforts, a 15.3 percent increase in research grant and contract income last year -- to a total of $188.4 million -- and a record 22 percent increase in gifts from alumni, corporations, and foundations to the University, continuing a trend that has increased annual support by nearly 66 percent in the past three years.
Research funding "not only enhances the quality of our educational programs, but also helps offset their cost," while increased giving is "strong evidence that our graduates and other friends of the University recognize the worth of the teaching and research that takes place here," wrote Cooley.
"We recognize that higher education is one of the largest expenses that families will undertake," he continued, "in the expectation that the rewards -- intellectual, spiritual, and material -- will be commensurate. Boston University is determined to maintain the extraordinary quality of its academic programs."