Students received an email message regarding a three percent increase in the comprehensive fee for the next academic year from President Kington during Spring Break. President Kington’s email included an attached letter that was sent to parents to explain the increase. It also encouraged students to educate themselves on the issues surrounding “college affordability and access” and to then engage in the discussions on these issues.

“As the cost to run and maintain the college increases, the amount of revenue also needs to increase,” said Doug Badger, Acting Dean of Admission. “We recognize the potential impact this can have on students and their families, and the College tries its best to minimize that.”
Some students worry that the increase in the cost will see a direct effect on their financial aid.

“I don’t mind the increase, but I’m worried about how it will affect mine and other people’s financial aid,” said Manu Spooner ’13.

However, Badger assured that Financial Aid is fairly unaffected by this increase.

“Financial aid is adjusted to help compensate,” Badger said. “Every year students reapply for financial aid and it is adjusted to fit their family’s current financial situation; if nothing in their situation has changed, then they would receive a comparable increase in their financial aid that corresponds to the increase in tuition.”

Students seemed to understand the need for the increase, but they definitely wanted to see some more scrutiny placed on the use of the money.

“I’d like to know exactly how the College is spending the money,” said Beck Ringdahl-Mayland ’13. “And I’d also like to see comparative data on how our tuition increases over the last five years compared to our peer institutions.”

Another major concern surrounding the discussion of the comprehensive fee increase is whether the value of education remains high enough to justify the increasing costs.

“[There is] no question that college is expensive,” said Badger. “But when you look at the average debt load of our students upon graduation [$16,000 – 18,000], students are in less debt than the average family buying a car. And if you consider the value of a car decreases tremendously very quickly and the value of the college education increases over time, [the cost of college] is still an incredibly valuable and worthwhile investment.”