Tuition and fees to increase 5.5%

Undergrads to payUndergrads to pay$21,130 next year The University Board of Trustees has announced that undergraduate tuition and fees will increase next year by 5.5 percent from 1995-96 costs, matching last year's increase, according to Executive Vice President John Fry. For the second year in a row, there will be no increase in fees for on-campus living and Dining Services, which average $6,966. Full-time undergraduate students will pay $21,130 next year. This includes tuition of $18,964 and a general fee of $1,766. It also includes a technology fee of $400, which is $150 more than last year. The total undergraduate charges amount to $28,096 for a student who lives in a double occupancy residence hall and eats 15 meals per week in a campus dining hall. This is a total increase of 4.6 percent from last year. This is the first time the undergraduate technology fee will increase since it was instituted in 1989, according to Fry. The technology fee covers the costs of providing students with computer labs, electronic mail and access to the Internet. Fry cited the exploding use of the network as one of the reasons the technology fee has risen. "We must continue to build our capacity, or it will impact our ability to do business," he said. The fee increase will also go toward replenishing and upgrading the capacity of the University's computer labs. The money will be put toward continued investment to provide students with more advanced technology, Fry added. University President Judith Rodin said in a press release that the University made it a priority to keep the rate of tuition increase as low as possible for students and their families, adding that "we are doing everything we can to hold down the cost of a Penn education." Vice President of Finance Stephen Golding said it has been the University's goal over the last five years to reduce the rate of increase in payments. "Tuition provides continuous support for investment in faculty, facilities and core academic programs, but we're trying to keep it as low as possible," he said. "Last year the total increase with room and board included was 4.0 percent, and it has raised to 4.6 percent only because of the increase in the technology fee." Golding added that it is necessary to raise the technology fee for the first time in seven years "as we prepare Penn students for the next century and a more interactive global society." Rodin's newly announced "Agenda for Excellence" is the University's five-year plan that calls for making the implementation of new teaching technologies a University priority. The University also announced that graduate tuition and fees for the 1996-97 school year would increase to $21,992 from $20,846, a 5.5 percent increase -- down from last year's 5.6 percent increase. This includes a tuition of $20,644 and a general fee of $1,348. For professional schools, tuition will be determined by the administration to reflect the budget requirements of the various schools. The general fee for professional school students will be $1,064.

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