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Tuition soars past $46,000

Editor-in-chief

Published: Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Updated: Tuesday, March 2, 2010 03:03

tuition increase

Tommy Nagel

In a letter mailed only to parents late last week, tuition will be $46,317 next year, $1,340 more than last year.

This is a 2.98 percent increase for the total cost of attendance for undergraduates.

The total cost for undergraduate students can be broken down between the cost of tuition and room and board. Tuition will be $35,604, a 2.91 percent increase, and room and board will be $9,816, which is 3.39 percent more than the present cost. DU has increased tuition every year since 1979. The current is the smallest increase over that span of years.

The student health fee will increase $12 to $432 due to increased usage, Provost Gregg Kvistad said. The technology fee, $144, and student activity fee, $321, will remain at the same.

"What we tried to do here was be extraordinarily careful with increasing tuition, fees and expenses," Kvistad said in an interview with The Clarion.

"The real bottom line is that we are trying desperately to keep the tuition rate increases very, very low."

The letter regarding the increase was not sent directly to students via e-mail, as it was last year. The Board of Trustees approved the administration's recommendation mid-January, more than one month before the amount was announced.

Kvistad said for the 2010-2011 school year, DU will spend $9 million more in institutional financial aid.

The budget for the 2010-2011 school year is still being formulated, Kvistad said. However, last year, DU's operational budget was reduced by $12.1 million.

There will be an additional 15 faculty positions added in the fall. Most will be added to Sturm College of Law and Daniels College of Business.

In the letter, Kvistad said, "The university is acutely aware of the environment in which we made this decision, which calls for the smallest tuition increase in many years. The economic challenges of the last year have affected, sometimes dramatically, every person, every family, every business and every institution in this country."

 

*Room and Board is based on a first-time first-year student in a double room with the largest meal plan

Source of Undergraduate Tuition, 1940 to Present: Office of the Provost

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6 comments

Anonymous
Mon Mar 22 2010 21:23
As a recently accepted graduate student, I am definitely disheartened at the increase. Without additional sources of financial aid, I simply won't be able to do it. It's unfortunate because I definitely regard DU as a great institution, and would love nothing more than to enroll. Yet without other sources of financial aid, it's simply not practical.
Anonymous
Tue Mar 2 2010 18:30
The headline is scary and just plain wrong -- tuition is not soaring past $46,000. The total cost of a year at DU - including tuition, room and board, and fees - will be past $46,000. The news is bad enough without the inaccuracy.
Anonymous
Tue Mar 2 2010 18:27
As a freshman I don't have as much experience as some of these alumni and other grad students, but I went to a private school and steadily watched the incline in price eat away at both my saving and my parent paychecks. It is a sad thing to say that the price of receiving a private education will always increase as long as their are people willing to pay it. As a private "business" DU isn't legally obligated to share where its funds are going. They can tell you whatever they want. You are paying for a product (diploma) and not necessarily the environment that should go with it
W. Van Cleave
Tue Mar 2 2010 11:23
I agree with the anonymous commenter above. As a senior about to graduate, I can safely say that there is a significant sentiment among the graduating class that their time spent at DU was not worth the exorbitant tuition fees. While the faculty on campus are wonderful, often trying to help students navigate the bureaucratic shortcomings that often befall students, there is an utter lack of empathy, consideration, and understanding on behalf of the administration when it comes to helping students out. The support systems promised in the university's glossy brochures are lackluster at best when actually used. So sure, the tuition hike seems small to the university administration, but for students who require financial aid and student loans, the difference is tangible especially when the product doesn't warrant the price. Furthermore, the idea that university scholarships don't increase with the tuition hikes every year is ludicrous. Plus, the on-campus living requirement is highway robbery when compared to the other living options available in the surrounding areas. The bottom line is that no matter how hard DU tries to be an Ivy League, it isn't even though it has the price tag of one. For the underclassmen out there, be vigilant about your money here, DU is a business first and foremost and so sometimes we feel like little more than walking dollar signs.
Damien Goddard - DU '89
Tue Mar 2 2010 10:39
President Obama in his last State of the Union Address said that universities had to do their part to lower tuition & fees. Clearly DU is not getting the message.

Until and unless alumni & students effectively protest these continuing tuition hikes Coombe & his staff will continue to hike the cost of a DU education. What the school needs is a dramatic cost cutting initiative coupled with a massive alumni fund raising drive and exploring every additional revenue stream. You know, running the school like a business instead of a freakin' country club.

The students need to get off their ass and protest these fee hikes. Not because it will lower their tuition, but to protect future generations of Pioneers. Start acting like leaders and doing something for the school.

Finally, the Board of Trustees needs to quit treating the university as a sorority mixer and start guiding the administration, because its obvious that left to their own devices, the administration thinks that solar energy, White Privilege and banning smoking on campus are the biggest issues facing DU.

Anonymous
Tue Mar 2 2010 09:32
As a graduate of DU, it is sad to see the cost of this education soar as it has over the years. Many would be served just as well to go to a much less expensive school and crack the books. The price of DU diploma, as sad as it is for me to say, is not worth it. Save your money, study hard and you will be ahead of the game in the long run.






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