Tuition is rising again for state universities in New Hampshire, according to the annual budget approved by the New Hampshire University System Board of Trustees on Thursday. Since 2000, the board has followed an annual trend of tuition hikes of about six percent accompanied by financial aid increases of about 12 percent. Tuition will increase by 6.9 percent for students at the University of New Hampshire, Plymouth State University, and Keene State College, while students at Granite State College will pay an additional 6.7 percent. Out-of-state residents will see tuition rise by 5.2 percent. An in-state student at University of New Hampshire will pay $19,238 for tuition, room and board next year, while an out-of-state student will pay over $32,000. The trustees also approved an increase in financial aid of 11.3 percent to balance the tuition hikes.
Sophomore Trips -- a condensed version of the trips offered to incoming freshman by the Dartmouth Outing Club -- sent 104 sophomores into the New Hampshire wilderness this past weekend on trips ranging from leisurely hiking to whitewater kayaking. According to STRIPS co-coordinator Ray Padgett '09 a large number of sophomores dropped out of the program, though a lengthy waiting list allowed the trips to remain full. The only change was a switch from a low-ropes to a moderate hiking trip due to ongoing construction at the ropes course. "The weekend went really well," Padgett said. "We pushed it two weeks earlier this year than it had been in the past with the theory that people would have less work so early in the term and would be more likely to go, and that worked out just as we'd hoped." Lee Cooper '09, who took part in the strenuous hiking trip, spoke positively of the experience. "It was a great opportunity to build stronger relationships with classmates whom I had previously known peripherally. After this rejuvenating weekend, I am confident that my time at Dartmouth is not half-over, but rather, only half-begun."
Gallaudet University, the world's only university in which all programs and services are designed to accommodate hearing-impaired students, was placed on probation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education due to governance problems, low graduation rates and a campus environment considered intolerant of different viewpoints, according to the New York Times. Last year, Gallaudet faced protests from the student body against the school's newly appointed president. Despite the recent probation, the university's new provost told the Times that he does not believe there will be future enrollment drops. However, an increasing number of hearing-impaired students are choosing to wear corrective implants and attend non-deaf colleges, raising concern about the school's future. Gallaudet has until November 2008 to prove that it is obeying the accrediting agency's administrative standards.
