The College's Board of Trustees voted this weekend to raise undergraduate tuition by 4.8 percent from $21,846 to $22,896, for 1997-98 academic year -- marking the lowest rate of increase in tuition since 1966.
In addition, the total tuition charge for the 1997-98 academic year -- including tuition, mandatory fees and room and board -- will be $29,507, a raise of 4.5 percent from last year.
This is the second straight year the rate of growth in the tuition has decreased. Last year, the rate decreased by five percent.
Rick Adams, public information manager for the Office of Public Affairs, said this year's increase "is consistent with what's been happening the past few years -- the rate of increase has been decreasing."
This year's 4.5 percent raise in total charge is a slight increase in the rate of growth from last year, when total charge went up 4.42 percent to $28,233, the lowest increase in 30 years.
The increases the past year in tuition and total charges of between four and five percent are a far cry from the mid-1980s, when the average annual hikes reached 12.2 percent.
More reasonable rates of tuition increases date back to 1989, when the Trustees stated their commitment to lowering the rate of growth in several successive years.
College President and Trustee James Freedman said he does not yet know how Dartmouth's tuition for 1997-98 will compare to the tuitions of the other Ivy League schools because they have not yet set their rates.
The College sets its tuition rates "a bit in advance of the institutions we compare ourselves to," he said.
As of last year, Dartmouth charged the fourth highest tuition and the sixth highest total price out of the eight schools in the Ivy League.
Freedman added that this year's increase was only to keep up with inflation.
The College's graduate schools also saw fairly modest tuition raises.
After five straight years of consistent two percent increases in tuition for Dartmouth Medical School, tuition for DMS this year was raised by three percent to $23,960.
Tuition for the Amos Tuck School of Business increased by 5.1 percent to $24,900. Last year's rate of growth was 5.3 percent and the rate increased by six percent in 1995.
The Thayer School of Engineering, like College undergraduates, saw a 4.8 percent tuition hike to $22,896.
The Trustees also voted to raise the mandatory student activity fee by 10 percent, from $105 per year to $115.50.
Freedman said the Trustees addressed a few other issues at the Winter-term meeting, including the Greek system.
The Board met with representatives from Greek organizations this weekend in order to discuss "student attitudes toward alcohol and the fraternities, toward the single-sex nature of the fraternities and if that was consistent with the nature of the College," Freedman said.
Freedman said no major issues, such as building a new residence hall or constructing of a new academic building, were discussed.
