Dartmouth News - Dartmouth Trustees approve lowest tuition increase in 33 years - 02/08/99

Posted 02/08/99

3.5% increment for 1999-2000 represents fifth consecutive drop in rate of rise

Continuing its efforts to ensure that a Dartmouth education remains accessible to all qualified students, the Dartmouth Board of Trustees has announced the College's lowest tuition increase since 1966, an increment of 3.5 percent for the 1999-2000 school year.

Following an announcement earlier this academic year that Dartmouth would substantially enhance its financial aid program, the Trustees' tuition decision builds upon one of the College's fundamental priorities: to make certain that no qualified student is discouraged from applying to Dartmouth because of financial considerations.

Dartmouth also continues to maintain its long-standing policy of "need-blind" (or "need-moot") undergraduate admissions, which means that the College decides which applicants to admit without considering their ability to pay, and then commits to fund the full extent of demonstrated financial aid need for a full four years.

Dartmouth President James Wright said, "All these efforts have the same goal: to ensure that a Dartmouth education remains within the reach of our nation's most talented students, regardless of their financial circumstances."

The Dartmouth Trustees approved the 3.5 percent increase for next year at their winter meeting Feb. 5-6, thus continuing a planned slowing of the rate of increase in tuition which has brought for the fifth consecutive year a lower percentage increase than the previous year.

For 1999-2000, Dartmouth's tuition will be $24,624. Total charges -- for tuition, mandatory fees and room and board -- will increase 3.8 percent to $31,983. Next year's tuition for Dartmouth's three professional schools will be:

-- Dartmouth Medical School: $25,800 (3.8% increase)

-- Thayer School of Engineering: $24,624 (3.5% increase)

-- Tuck School of Business Administration: $27,150 (4.0% increase)

Last fall the College instituted a series of financial aid initiatives -- which will be in full effect for the coming academic year -- that will significantly increase the scholarship assistance provided to students. Among other measures, the plan substantially lowers student loan expectations, reduces or eliminates family assets from financial aid calculations, and allows students to use the full amount of any outside scholarship received to further reduce loan or job expectations.

When fully implemented, the new financial aid measures will represent an 8 percent increase (an increment of $2.2 million) in Dartmouth scholarship aid to students.

"All of us at Dartmouth remain committed to providing students with the financial support necessary to enable their attendance," said Karl Furstenberg, Dartmouth's Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid and Associate Provost. "We are proceeding with the multiple aims of offering financial aid awards that make a Dartmouth education affordable for students and their families, preserving our need-blind admissions program, and ensuring equitable treatment of all financial aid recipients at Dartmouth."

Over the next four years the college plans to implement the following steps:

Dartmouth will reduce loan expectations for students on a graduated basis according to family income. Dartmouth has had a long-standing policy that recognizes the burden loans place on low- and middle-income students and their families. In recognition of these concerns, Dartmouth's policy will be significantly expanded to further reduce loan expectations on a graduated basis, according to family income.

In total, these loan reductions will affect approximately 54 percent of the financial aid recipients at Dartmouth and will add a total of $1.98 million to the scholarships awarded.

Dartmouth will continue its case-by-case assessment of family assets in the needs analysis. For quite some time, Dartmouth has recognized that the needs analysis formula, commonly used by selective institutions to determine eligibility for financial aid, often results in unrealistic contributions for middle income families. Therefore, Dartmouth has been adjusting the formula, particularly as it affects assets and home equity, to make expected family contributions more realistic. For many families, this means that the home equity has either been eliminated or reduced or that the contribution from all assets has been decreased. This case-by-case approach will affect approximately 37 percent of financial aid recipients at Dartmouth and add $1.44 million to the college's scholarship awards.

All Dartmouth undergraduate students, beginning this fall, will be able to retain 100 percent of any outside scholarships they might receive. Many civic organizations and corporations provide merit scholarships to Dartmouth students, and students who win scholarships from sources external to Dartmouth will be able to keep these funds to reduce the loan and/or job portions of their financial aid packages. As a result, Dartmouth will increase the amount of its own funds devoted to scholarships by $1.3 million. Approximately one-third of the financial aid recipients at Dartmouth will benefit from this change in policy.

Dartmouth will enable families to realize the full benefit of the $1,500 Hope Scholarship. Dartmouth is committed to enabling families to use this additional resource to further reduce loans.

Dartmouth will increase the scholarship budget for first-year international students by 6 percent. The enrollment of international students has been an admissions priority at Dartmouth for many years. International students contribute to the diversity of the educational experience. Presently, Dartmouth commits $1.5 million each year to scholarships for international students. In the future, these funds will be increased by 6 percent annually.