The Observer, February 1, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 15
Tuition to increase by 5 percent next year
Case's tuition increase for next fall is the university's lowest in seven years, leaving students money for important things like textbooks and pizza.
The increase was announced by provost Jerold Goldberg three weeks before the scheduled release at an open forum held Monday night in Thwing.
Students who entered Case before the 2006-2007 school year will see a 5.02 percent increase in tuition ,to $33,500. Students entering in that school year or later will pay $34,450: a 5.03 percent increase.
The purpose of the open forum was to explain how the administration decided on the new tuition rate.
"I think it is definitely a good thing that we are seeing increased administrative transparency in the budget and other instances with students. It can only mean good things," said David Poerschke, USG vice president of Academic Affairs.
The increase is seen as very moderate by many upperclassmen who had to deal with the 9.96 percent increase in fiscal year 2005 and had come to expect the 5.5 percent change from last year.
Undergraduate tuition makes up 14.89 percent of the total income accrued by the university. The rest is from gifts, endowment, and other sources.
"We think the increase has been moderate; we tried not to put any extra burden on students while maintaining the expectation of increased quality of higher education," said Goldberg.
Arriving at this figure is not a straightforward process. Representatives from the Office of University Planning and Budget and the Faculty Senate Budget Committee, as well as Case's chief financial officer, Hossein Sadid, arrive at the value by comparing Case's tuition to those of schools similar in size and academic stature to find a figure that is comparable, while remaining as low as can be fiscally responsible.
"We look at historic changes, other universities, and select the lowest that makes the most sense. It's not a formula – more of an art than a science," said Sadid.
Other students wondered if the university considered the recent budgetary deficit problems when they were considering the increase.
"I think we've tried not to make it a factor. This allows us to deal with them as isolated problems and not transfer the burden on students," said Goldberg.
The discussion turned to financial aid and merit-based scholarships after many students, concerned over the increase, turned to how they would pay for the additional tuition.
"It has not been the practice of this institution to increase merit-based scholarships per student from year to year. We do, obviously for the incoming students, but the scholarships will stay the same for those who qualify in subsequent years," said Virginia Leitch, associate vice president for University Budget and Financial Planning.
She then reminded students that need-based aid is determined on a year-by-year basis and will reflect the tuition increase and other monetary expenses accrued by students.
One student, concerned about the study abroad program, asked if the difference in cost between Case and a less-expensive international university was pocketed by Case.
"I am aware of several colleges [abroad] that actually cost more than Case Western and we end up footing the bill. England comes to mind. We are definitely not making money off the study abroad program," said Leitch.
Sadid explained the reasons why Case Western and other private institutions' tuitions increase beyond the inflation rate. He specifically mentioned utilities, despite the campus-wide efforts to reduce energy usage; information technology, which has increased in both size and scope in the past few years; and other strategic planning efforts.
"Overall, I am pleased that the university was willing to hold this forum – things like this would have never happened two years ago – but more importantly I am happy that the university is working hard to keep tuition as low as possible for students and that they are projecting increased philanthropy from donors ,which can only mean good news for financial aid," said USG president Adam Rupe.
