Tuition raised 5.7 percent for next year

U. increase lowest in Ivies University students will not escape the rising costs of higher education when they return to campus in the fall. Next year, both undergraduate and graduate students can expect to see a 5.7 percent increase in their tuition bills, administrators announced at yesterday's annual budget briefing. Acting Director of Resource Planning and Budget Benjamin Hoyle said yesterday that the increases in tuition and fees are necessary to finance the operation of the four undergraduate schools. Those schools receive over 80 percent of their funding from tuition dollars, he said. "Compared to other institutions of our size, we're a little more tuition-dependent," Hoyle said. "Plus, we have a much smaller endowment." If approved, next year's budget would continue a trend that has reduced the rates of increase in undergraduate tuition and fees since the 1988-89 academic year, when students were hit by an 8.9 percent increase. Yesterday's preliminary budget states that undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees will total $18,856 for the 1994-95 academic year, lower than the four other Ivy League schools that have approved budgets for next year. Mandatory fees include the $250 technology fee and $1,586 for the general fee -- a $100 hike over the current general fee. Subject to approval by the University Trustees tomorrow, the overall charge to undergraduates will rise by 5.6 percent -- or $1,380 -- to $25,822. This total charge assumes students will have to pay $4,272 for a dorm room from Residential Living, $2,624 for 15 meals from Dining Services and a $70 ResNet fee. The tuition and fees charged for a graduate student's education is proposed to rise 5.8 percent to $19,740. Of the five schools that do have figures for next year, Brown will charge the highest tuition and mandatory fees, $20,028 -- a 5.1 percent increase over the current year's rates. Over the last ten years, Brown has ranked as the most expensive Ivy League school to attend. Dartmouth College will raise its tuition and fees 6.9 percent, from $18,375 to $19,650 -- the largest percentage increase for next year. Students at Princeton University will see a 5.3 percent increase in their tuition costs, set to be $19,900 next year, while Cornell's tuition rates for students in the endowed colleges will be up 5 percent to just under $19,000. Columbia, Harvard and Yale will not publish their budgets for next year until May or June, spokesmen for the universities said yesterday. At yesterday's briefing, Hoyle said he expects the University's tuition and fees to remain below the rates of the other Ivy League schools. Hoyle said, however, that he is yet aware of how much those other institutions had decided to increase their tuition and fees next year. In her opening remarks at the forum, Interim President Claire Fagin said that the University is committed to continuing its policy of reducing the rates of tuition increases each year. Fagin also said that need-blind admissions would continue.