Incoming Freshmen Face 15% Tuition Hike

How much is a Catholic liberal arts education worth? Depending on your class year at Providence College it could be more or less expensive.

The College has implemented two new tuition increases which will take effect next year. Enrolled students will see a hike of four percent, which will make tuition for the 2010-11 academic year $33,610. The Class of 2014, however, will have to pay almost 15 percent or $5,000 more than enrolled students. Their tuition will be $38,610. The tuition increase for incoming freshmen is a “one-time adjustment.”

“If we raised the price we wanted it to affect the students who will be here the longest,” said Christopher Lydon, associate vice president of Admissions.

The tuition increase will not be finalized until after this week’s Board of Trustees meeting.

Student reactions around campus upon hearing about the increases have been torn.
“I think it seems pretty unfair, but I do think PC is worth the money,” said Annie Laquidara ’12. “But I’m not sure people would realize that before they come here.”

The new pricing structure for tuition has been under consideration for two years.
Need-based and merit-based scholarships will also be increasing in proportion to the tuition increase. Two new tiers of need-based scholarships will be established next year.

“This process took 30 months to come to fruition,” said Lydon. “It was certainly not a knee-jerk decision.” 

The new pricing system’s initial implementation was scheduled to be announced last year, but due to the economic collapse the College postponed it.

Current freshmen are relieved that they did not face such a steep increase.

“I’m glad I’m already in this school,” said Brendan Collins ’13. “It’s kind of tough for seniors in high school.”

Although the Class of 2014 will have a separate tuition increase it will not be exempt from future tuition increases. Incoming freshmen can expect tuition increases between four and five percent, like those of the past two academic years, after their first year.
During the 2006-07 and 2007-08 academic years tuition increased eight percent.
PC has not placed budget cuts on academic programs.

“Through this recession we have not made cuts to our academic enterprises,” said Lydon.

The tuition increases are expected to help the College achieve five goals: accreditation for the School of Business, an expanded study abroad program, optional increased course loads for major/minor requirements at no additional cost, an enhanced fellowship program, and new programs from career services. 

Students are in agreement that some enhancements are in order.

“I think a few things might have to improve for that price,” said Lauren Kent ’13.

Prospective freshmen have been made aware of the planned tuition increase, and all of the information was placed on the PC Web site on Jan. 4. All prospective students were also notified via e-mail of the new pricing system.

However, early action students were not aware of the changes before they applied to PC. The official notification of the new pricing system came two weeks before the early action deadline.

Thus far the increase does not seem to be affecting the number or quality of applicants applying to the College. PC has received just under 8,400 applicants for the Class of 2014. Their high school GPAs are consistent with those of past classes, between a B+ and A-.

Even though the prospective freshmen are of the same quality as classes before them, Lydon says it is always unpredictable, even in good economic circumstances, if the freshman class will be filled. As of now the College is looking to fill a larger class than it has in recent years. Between 1,050 and 1,100 students are expected to be accepted with a “robust wait list.” There are eight applicants for every space available for freshmen on campus.

More prospective students have been admitted so far this year than were at the same time last year.

“The early pool was a good indicator for being off to a good start for the Class of 2014,” said Lydon.

Current students are less optimistic about the chances of filling the prospective freshman class.

“I think it’ll affect if people decide to come to this school,” said Erica Harrison ’13. “It will be more of a factor-the money.”

Not all students share Harrison’s pessimism, but they still think that the tuition increase will have some bearing on prospective students’ decisions.

“I don’t think that it will have that much of an effect unless they have older siblings,” said Kristen Polins ’12. “I think if they really want to go here, they’ll still go here.”
The Class of 2014 will be paying $38,610 in tuition, making PC’s tuition closer to many of its competitor schools including Boston College, The College of the Holy Cross, and Villanova University. Boston College is the most expensive of the competitor schools with tuition at $38,530 for the 2009-2010 academic year. Loyola College is the least expensive private Catholic school at $36,510. Stonehill College is the least expensive private competitor school.

“Of course it’s worth it [to attend PC],” said Harrison. “If they compare it to other schools that are known for being better schools than PC and it’s only a few thousand dollars more, then they might go there.”

According to Lydon, the Office of Admissions has not received any calls regarding the increase in tuition which is out of the ordinary. Most calls from prospective parents have been concerning merit-based scholarships. There has been a trickle of calls concerning tuition, not a flood.