Tuition reaches $21,970

The board of trustees approved a 9.9 percent tuition increase for the 2010-2011 academic year.

This is the highest increase since the 7.8 percent increase in 2007, bringing tuition to $21,970 and the total cost of attendance to $29,990.

The 9.9 percent increase will only affect incoming freshmen and transfers who plan to attend the University next fall. Returning students will see a tuition increase of 6.9 percent after a $600 adjustment grant is added to their accounts.

Fees will also see a sharp jump, increasing by 44 percent, bringing fees from $840 to $1,210 for the year. Fees will not increase by this large of a percentage in coming years, said James Steen, vice president for enrollment management. Steen said Gregg Stapleton, former vice president for financial affairs, recommended high increases in fees to make sure that the University was not deferring services such as maintenance. 

Steen said the finance committee of the board of trustees based its recommendation on many factors, including obtaining higher-quality students, making sure the University can fulfill its financial obligations and moving the Ten Pillars vision forward.

"While this is an aggressive increase, the cost of attending HBU is still competitive compared to other four-year private universities," Steen said. "At the end of the day, we're trying to keep the doors open while providing students with a quality Christian education."

Below average
According to a 2009 "Trends in College Pricing" report from Collegeboard.com the current total cost of attendance at a four-year private university is $35,636; the total cost of attendance at the University for the next academic year will be $29,990.

Steen added that the recommendation from the finance committee went through revisions in order to better accommodate students and ensure the University could still cover its operations budget.

Steen said there have been recent changes to scholarship awards to help incoming freshmen shoulder the increased tuition. The freshman merit awards and transfer merit awards were also increased to keep up with the tuition hike.

The money allocated for the Endowed Academic Scholarships has also been redistributed this year, a strategy to help the University reach a goal of 600 freshmen for next year.

"We made a radical shift with the Endowed Academic Scholarship," Steen said. "Instead of having 15 to 20 students only getting that money, we've taken that money and we're distributing it to students who have significantly high SAT scores to encourage them to come to the University."

The money was divided into three levels where students can automatically gain up to $5,000 per year in award in addition to the current merit awards and grants if their scores are 1,200 and above.

Steen said that at a private school it is nearly impossible to freeze tuition. He said that there have been many universities that have not raised tuition, but that was not always a good financial decision. He added that, at some universities, a tuition freeze nearly causes bankruptcy.

Reacting to change
Student reaction to the increase has been one of concern and anxiety.

Junior Morgan Kelley said while it is good that the University has added the adjustment grant to student accounts, it is not enough.

"The grant doesn't seem like a big amount and if the freshmen are getting more aid than the upperclassmen should also get more."

Kelley added that although she has a scholarship, the tuition increases have caused her parents to make up the difference with loans.

Sophomore Alex Smiley said he was expecting a tuition increase, but did not think the increase would be so high.

"I don't know what to say other than that it's outrageous," Smiley said. "I'm not content about the increase, but I do feel that I get a good enough education here."

Preparing for fall 2010
Barrett Bell, executive director for financial services, said with the recent increase it is imperative that upperclassmen fill out their FAFSA early.

"Historically freshmen fill out their FAFSA earlier than upperclassmen, but it needs to be the other way around," Bell said. "If upperclassmen do that then more aid will be available for them."

Bell added that it is also important that both incoming students and current students still need to look and apply for other scholarships.

Be the first to comment on this article!

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out