Considering the SLU’s Financial Year 2015 budget summary released by Interim President Bill Kauffman last Thursday, you can find a 3.5 percent increase in undergraduate fees followed by a 2.2 hike in professional and graduate folds. The university has also set $137.7 million for financial aid and $5.3 for teaching staff salaries. This equates a 2 percent merit on compensation fold. The President ascribed this to a “concerted effort to keep tuition increases as reasonable as possible” after ensuring that they have the adequate fiscal resources to enhance the outstanding, prevalent quality of SLU education.
This implies an undergraduate tuition rate to $37, 350 every year, thereby marking the smallest hike in tuition since 2010. The MBA program now costs $54, 355 per year, and the law school, medical tuition will see a rise of $ 37, 990 and $49, 450 respectively. Undergraduate fees for the Madrid Campus are poised to rise by 3.5% for four-year batches and for abroad studying. It is 4% for transfer or visiting students, which brings the sum total to 9, 000 Euros and 10, 500 Euros every semester, respectively. The financial aid inference aims to curb escalating costs while the “Go further” program aims to syncopate with $1.5 million donation amount for funding scholarships. It is fundraising endeavor to ameliorate a qualified scholarship reward of $100 or more.
Kauffman states in his letter, about a current trend of diminishing enrollment simultaneously with an expanding faculty gamut and staff. It also includes growing compensation alongside general expenditure, which poses a serious impediment for the SLU’s urge to move forward with its plans. He agrees that it is ideally not a sustainable instance, which creates a big challenge for the University syndicate. He said that the authorities have informed the Faculty Senate for propounding a strategy which shall enable the university to evaluate every operation. The rising education costs are not exclusive to SLU. The tuition fees of auxiliary institutions have perennially maintained their fiscal flight in the recent years. The “2013 Trends in Higher Education Pricing” report by College Board unravels that non-profit, private, four-year universities have experienced a 3.8% rise in tuition on an average during the last year. This precedent was at par with SLU’s 3.9% rise.
Even Jesuit institutions have a propensity for higher tuition fees as compared to private institutions. The SLU rates are in parity with average Jesuit concerns in this regard. The last couple of years witnessed a rise in net fees or tuition for non-profit folds. This matrix considers tax benefits alongside grants and aids that reduce education expenses for students.