Trustees Announce Tuition Increase

Boston College announced today that the Board of Trustees will raise tuition by 3.5 percent for the 2010-2011 academic year to $39,880.

In addition, the University has pledged $79.3 million to support need-based undergraduate financial aid, an increase of $5.5 million, or 7 percent, from last year's undergraduate aid allotment.

The Office of News and Public Affairs announced the decisions regarding tuition and financial aid, as well as the University's operating budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, following last Friday's meeting of the board.

"Through fundraising and increases in tuition, we're hopeful that we can maintain this academic momentum we're on," said Executive Vice President Patrick Keating. "We're working at all facets of the budget to keep it as under control as possible."

The University's overall operating budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, which begins on June 1, is $807 million, representing an increase of 4.4 percent from last year's budget.
The announcement made it clear that financial aid was a major priority of the board, particularly in light of concerns for the strain that the increase might put on BC students and families.

"We are sensitive to the economic pressures on our families today, and we want to do all that we can to operate as efficiently and affordably as possible," said University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J. in a statement.

BC historically has maintained a dual policy of being need-blind in admissions and meeting the full demonstrated financial need of all accepted undergraduate students, one of only 27 universities in the country that boasts both policies.

"That's a huge point of pride," said University Spokesman Jack Dunn. "I think it speaks a lot about BC and its effective governance."

Financial assistance provided to students can come in the form of federal and state loans or grants, or combinations of both, in addition to grant money that comes directly from the University, said Bernie Pekala, director of student financial strategies.
This year, 70 percent of BC students received varying amounts of aid in the form of such loans and grants. For the upcoming academic year, the average need-based financial aid package is projected to be $31,000, which would likely include a combination of government and institutional aid.

"We're still seeing an unemployment rate around nine, 10 percent," Pekala said. "We're trying to make sure we have the appropriate amount of budgeting for our families."
Other major considerations of the board when determining next year's budget included the goals outlined in the University's 2006 Strategic Plan, as well as plans to begin renovations on Gasson Hall and construction on the Middle and Brighton Campuses within the next six months, Keating said.

"I think that's the biggest thing with the master plan – to get it started," Keating said. "Once people see it started, I think people will be less frustrated."

At Friday's meeting, the board gave its approval for the University to move forward with the Gasson Hall renovation. Additionally, Keating said, BC is in the process of designing Stokes Commons, which will be built on Middle Campus, as well as planning renovations for office space on the Brighton Campus. It is there that the More Hall administrative offices will be relocated in order to prepare for the razing of the building and the construction of a dormitory on the site.

"We are moving ahead," Keating said. "So the fact that we're in design, if everything goes okay, we're hopeful to seek board approval and begin construction this fall for those two projects. We're still following the sequence. It just took us a little longer through the city, and the economic crisis slowed us down, but we never stopped the plan."
Prior to any construction on the Brighton Campus or on Stokes Commons, the University would need the approval of the board by next fall. "There's every expectation that they're going to support it," Keating said.

Also important to administrators was restoring salary increases, which had been suspended last year for employees earning over $75,000. "We're looking to be as efficient as possible, but we felt that we could not go another year without a salary increase for the staff," Keating said.

However, administrators are still working to find areas in which the University can be more efficient in its spending practices. Keating identified health care, energy, and utilities spending as key areas where BC is seeking new, creative approaches to battling rising costs.

"We are looking hard at health costs," Keating said. "We have really pressed about utility savings and energy savings," efforts that he said were "really paying off." Administrators are forecasting that BC will be below budget in energy spending for the current year, and as a result, the budget allotment for the coming year was lowered.

Until the economy begins to show more positive signs of recovery, the University will continue to carefully monitor its endowment spending, Keating said.

"You want to keep the real value of the endowment constant and growing," Keating said. "We think we're very aggressive in the use of the endowment, in a prudent way."
Keating said that administrators are also looking into ways in which the endowment can be used to support the construction of buildings, rather than incurring debt, which can be expensive.

"We're looking at some creative ways to trade off debt service and debt financing with use of the endowment," Keating said. "That also addresses the question, ‘Are we leveraging the endowment properly?' but we constantly talk about that."