Correction appended
The Board of Trustees approved a 5.9-percent increase in tuition, room, board and fees for the 2011-2012 academic year, according to a College press release on Monday. With the increase, tuition, room, board and fees will total $55,365, making Dartmouth the most expensive of the seven Ivy League schools that have announced tuition costs for the 2011-2012 academic year.
The cost of room, board and fees for undergraduate students will rise from $12,297 to $13,629, representing an overall increase of 10.83 percent. Undergraduate tuition will increase by 4.4 percent in the 2011-2012 academic year, from $39,978 to $41,736.
This year's raise in tuition will increase revenue and help resolve the College's overall budget gap, Executive Vice President Steven Kadish said.
"From here, we should be in balance and on our way to looking ahead in terms of where we need to invest, and how we're going to grow," Kadish said.
The College will likely see a $3 million increase in financial aid expenditures in the 2011-2012 academic year totaling a projected $80 million, up from this year's $77 million, according to the press release. The increase will be paid for by College general funds, which includes the increase in tuition, according to Kadish.
The elevated tuition, room, board and fees costs will bring the College approximately $5 to 6 million in revenue after covering the additional costs from financial aid, according to Justin Anderson, director of media relations for the College.
The Board also approved a new $800 general fee for students enrolled in the College to "partially cover and support the growing library needs, information services and recreational activities," Kadish said.
The additional fees were modeled after similar general and health fees at peer institutions such as Columbia University, Stanford University, Duke University and the University of Pennsylvania, according to Kadish.
"On average, at the schools we've looked at, these fees are at an average of just under $1,400 per year," he said. "Our fee will be significantly below the average."
College fees for the 2010-2011 academic year currently include student activity fees and class dues totalling $459 per term, with freshmen paying an additional $338 for their first year at the College, according to the College's financial aid website.
Based on Kadish's approximations, the Board projected that 30 percent of the College's total revenue for the 2010-2011 fiscal year would come from undergraduate and graduate tuitions and fees. Additional sources of revenue include 28 percent from endowments and gifts to the College, 23 percent from grants for research and 18 percent from a "catch-all" general fund, according to Kadish. The College is on track to bridge the $54 million budget gap for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, Kadish said.
The increased price of meal plans for freshman students which will cost freshmen approximately $200 more than the current required plan will help close the budget gap, Kadish said.
The recently announced $400,000-renovation of Baker Berry which will be funded by a central capital reserve fund consisting of money set aside by the President's Office for "one-time costs" and $200,000 allocated by the President's Office for renovations of the Connecticut River swim docks, are considered "priorities" and will not be funded by tuition increases, Kadish said. The $12 million gift from the Class of 1953 that funds the renovation of the Class of 1953 Commons is also considered a College priority, according to Kadish.
Cornell University's undergraduate costs will increase by 4.5 percent, The Harvard Crimson reported. At $54,645, Cornell's costs for the next academic year are closest to Dartmouth's figure.
Undergraduate costs at Princeton University will increase by 1 percent to total $49,069 the lowest in the Ivy League for the upcoming academic year, according to a Princeton press release.
Harvard University increased its undergraduate costs by 3.8 percent for the 2011-2012 academic year, totaling $52,650, while Yale University undergraduate fees rose to $52,700, representing a 5.8-percent increase over the previous year, according to press releases from the Universities. Undergraduate costs increased by 3.5 percent at Brown University, totaling $56,260, and 3.9 percent at Penn, totaling $53,976.
Although Columbia has not yet released the cost of undergraduate tuition and fees for the next academic year, its 2010-2011 academic year costs totaled $56,684, according to Columbia's website.
"Tuitions for all Ivies are within a small range of dollars in terms of total tuition fees, room and board," Kadish said. "You'd have to ask, is there a material difference in the cost of these services? I'd argue that we're all similar. I don't believe there's a material difference about what we're charging. We're charging what we believe we need to charge in order to have the facilities, faculty and support that provide an outstanding academic experience."
Kadish said that contribution from families who do not qualify for financial aid is integral to supporting the need-blind policy that provides for quality education to students at the College.
"For those families fortunate enough to have the means to pay the full amount, it's a way for Dartmouth College as a whole to recover some of its costs," he said. "The cost of an education at Dartmouth is about double what we charge. In effect, Dartmouth College is matching the contribution of parent and students almost one-for-one in terms of the full cost of going to Dartmouth."
Despite the increased costs, members of the Classes of 2012, 2013 and 2014 who qualify for financial will still receive the necessary financial aid packages from the College, according to Maria Laskaris, director of Admissions and Financial Aid.
"As cost of attendance rises, the amount of scholarships in financial aid packages will increase to cover demonstrated need, assuming income does not change dramatically," she said. "This will vary from student to student."
Laskaris said she does not expect the yield for applicants who applied and were admitted to the Class of 2015 through regular decision to decrease due to the increased costs for next year.
"The strength of our financial aid programs is one of the reasons why many students choose Dartmouth from among other very good offers," she said. "We have been very up-front with applicants that we have a no-loan and free tuition policy for those below $75,000 with normal assets."
Laskaris said it is "hard to know" the impact that the increased costs will have on prospective applicants to the College.
"Many of our peers have increased tuition at a greater percentage throughout their history, and it doesn't seem to slow the growth of applicant pools," she said.
The College will continue to maintain its need-blind financial aid program, according to Laskaris.
Tuition for Dartmouth Medical School and the Tuck School of Business will increase by 6 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively. Undergraduate tuition rates apply to students in the Thayer School of Engineering and the arts and sciences graduate programs, according to the College press release.
Last year, the College announced a 4.6-percent increase in undergraduate tuition and fees, compared to 4.8-percent and 4.9-percent increases in the 2009-2010 and 2008-2009 academic years, respectively, according to the College's Fact Book.
The Board expects it will slow the rate of growth in tuition, mandatory fees, room and board for the 2012-2013 academic year, according to Kadish.
Kadish said he and other College officials are "worried" about a possible cut by the federal governments to Pell Grants and other federally funded low-income student assistance programs.
Staff writer Laura Bryn Sisson contributed to the reporting of this article.
