While the College Board’s annual tuition and financial aid survey reveals the steepest tuition hikes in a decade at four-year public colleges, Boston University’s increase from last year falls below the national average among the nation’s private colleges.
BU’s four-percent tuition jump was lower than the national private school average of 5.8 percent. BU spokesman Colin Riley credited this to hard work being done to manage increases.
“We do everything we can to keep tuition increases as low as possible,” Riley said.
According to Riley, tuition revenue contributes to one half of BU’s operating cost of $1.3 billion. That total comprises expenses that include utilities, heat and electricity, as well as the purchase of technology, computers and engineering equipment to maintain state of the art facilities.
In the past decade alone, about $1 billion in capital has gone toward the improvement of facilities like the School of Management, Photonics Center and the recently opened Track and Tennis Center.
Riley said there are several factors that help to keep BU’s tuition increase low compared to other colleges. He cited major sponsored research gifts to faculty like the NASA grant as significant aids. Ninety-five million dollars was also contributed to BU this year as gift income.
Although college costs have continued to follow an upward trend, the College Board also reported that the amount of financial aid given out has significantly increased, in some cases at faster rates than tuition. The survey said financial assistance increased by 11.5 percent this year.
BU consistently hands out a lot in financial assistance, Riley said. Another form of aid is loans that must be repaid after graduation. Riley encouraged students to look at debt through another perspective.
“By the time the average BU student finishes four years, their debt will be less than the cost of one year’s tuition,” he said.
Many students were pleased that BU’s tuition increase was below the national average. College of Arts and Sciences freshman Ali Kaufman made the point that the long-term benefits of a college education could offset the high costs.
“A good college education will hopefully pay for itself,” Kaufman said.
College of Communication freshman Emily Beaver was a bit more skeptical.
“Although it’s a good thing that BU’s tuition hasn’t increased as much as other schools’ have, our tuition is still marginally higher than many schools,” she said.
