Yale University announced on Tuesday that its tuition, room and board will increase by 3.3 percent to $47,500 for the 2009-2010 academic year, according to Bloomberg. Yale will continue with its plan to increase funding for financial aid, regardless of the economic downturn. Nationwide, the College Board reported that there has been a 5.6-percent rise in the cost of attending a private four-year college. Yale had previously announced $37 million in budget cuts, a reduction in employee raises and the postponement of $2 billion of construction.
The University of Washington will eliminate 70 permanent positions and reduce 16 positions from full to part time at its fund-raising office, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. The university, which has the fastest growing fundraising office of all public doctoral institutions, according to The Chronicle, said the layoffs were the result of a 25-percent loss on its endowment and impending state budget reductions. The layoffs will only affect 20 percent of the staff, and will not impact front-line fundraisers, The Chronicle reported. The university had hired 64 new fundraisers between 2002 and 2007 for its $2 billion campaign, nearly doubling its staff.
National Academy of Sciences President Ralph Cicerone the stressed the importance of consistent federal funding for the sciences at a hearing before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, Inside Higher Ed reported. The recently passed economic stimulus package allocates at least $16 billion for scientific research over the next two years. Cicerone noted that the sudden influx of funding for research must be wisely managed so that research programs and long-term research projects are not overextended in the event that funding dries up after the two-year period. He did not specify the amount of money he thought the government should spend on science. Legislators agreed with Cicerone, and Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, proposed an independent panel of scientists and engineers to make annual recommendations to Congress.
