Tuition fees have nearly doubled over the past decade, rising from $10,667 total in 1996 to $20,441 this year.
The increase in tuition rates, however, is a complicated issue that occurs for a number of reasons. University expansion and the initiation of new programs accounts for some of the increase, but inflation plays a major role as well.
“Every year, the cost of a library book goes up,” said Gerald Whittington, vice president for busines, finance and technology.
Inflation causes tuition rates to increase not only at Elon, but at most other universities as well.
“There’s no way around it,” Whittington said of the increase.
Costs for tuition, room and board total $27,291, comparatively less than the national average of $29,026.
Whittington stated that Elon, like more than 70 percent of other American colleges, is “tuition-dependent,” meaning that the most of the school’s revenue comes from tuition rather than philanthropy or endowment.
As reported at last spring’s Academic Council Meeting, Elon’s Budget Committee met multiple times during 2005 and 2006 to discuss potential models for tuition increases, and the committee did select a final model to use.
Student tuition pays for “everything it takes to run the university,” Whittington said, including library books, technology, faculty salaries and retirement funds, building utility bills and even elevator maintenance fees.
Next year, higher tuition will help pay for the maintenance, insurance and utilities of five new buildings, as well as the university’s ongoing initiative to replace part-time faculty membes with full-time faculty members.
Last September, at a Parents Council meeting entitled “On Arriving, Deepening and Sustaining: Key Questions About Elon University’s Future,” parents stated that they felt a rise in tuition costs would be feasible, and actually suggested increasing the price of tuition in moderate amounts.
Parents are quoted as stating that “we have a premium product and should price it like that” and suggested that while deciding tuition fees,“don’t think about the past.”
Much of the exciting new construction and expansion of the university has in fact been paid for by tuition hikes.
Part of the NewCentury@Elon plan states that “much of what has been accomplished over the past decade has been fueled by growing enrollment and the ability to raise tuition.”
Despite tuition hikes, Elon’s 2006-2007 tuition and fees prices are about $1,000 less than the national average of private school tuition and fees, $21,235. The Fiske Guide to Colleges included Elon in a list of 26 “best buy” private college and universities in 2007 and The Princeton Review ranked Elon among 47 “best value” private schools.
A number of new scholarships will be offered next year, both need and merit-based.