Trustees approve increase in student charges
By Daniel J. Fitzgibbons
A 3.4 percent increase in student charges for the next academic year was approved March 14 by the Board of Trustees at its meeting at the Medical School in Worcester.
President Jack M. Wilson, who recommended the hike, said the increase falls below the rate of inflation, currently at 3.6 percent for the Northeast.
“For the fourth year in a row we have been able to keep our commitment to limiting student charges increases so that our campuses will remain affordable and accessible, even as we strive to achieve academic excellence throughout the five-campus UMass system,” said Wilson.
Under the plan approved by the trustees, tuition and fees at Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell campuses will rise, on average, from $8,918 to $9,221.
“I think this is a fair and modest increase,” said Board Chairman Stephen P. Tocco. “We have reviewed proposed increases for other university systems here in the Northeast and ours is the lowest, by far.”
Amherst student trustee Mishy Leiblum and her counterpart from Boston, Aleksandar Kulenovic, urged the board to consider the impact of the proposed increases on students.
“Students are being priced out of a degree,” said Leiblum, citing a gap between student costs and what is covered by financial aid.
Wilson said $3.95 million of the new fees will be used to provide additional financial aid.
This year, he said, the University met 89 percent of undergraduates’ demonstrated financial need. Students are currently receiving $402 million in financial aid with about $72 million coming directly from the University.
“Providing an affordable and accessible education of high quality is an important part of our mission as the Commonwealth’s public university. Adequate funding of the financial aid program is necessary to insure that every qualified student has the opportunity to pursue the goal of earning a University degree,” said Wilson.
At the Amherst campus, tuition and fees for in-state undergraduates will rise next year from $9,595 to $9,921. Out-of-state undergraduates will pay $20,499, an increase of $1,182 over this year’s charges.
The trustees also approved higher room and board charges. Next year, those combined fees will go up $489 to $7,478.
The total cost, including room and board, for in-state undergraduates will increase to $17,399, while the same charges for out-of-state students will be $27,977.
Tuition and fees for in-state graduate students will be $10,095, an increase of $213. Out-of-state graduate students will pay $19,178, compared to this year’s charges of $18,906.
March 15, 2007.
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