The Gustavus Adolphus College Board of Trustees is announcing a strategy to address what has become a national conversation about the rising costs of higher education. In setting tuition, room and board for first-year and returning students for the 2014-15 academic year, the College is introducing a new pricing plan that will tie the increases to a three-year rolling average of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which presently calculates at 2.3 percent. The plan is aimed at holding down student indebtedness and giving families the ability to better plan for college costs.
The comprehensive fees for incoming and returning students for the 2014–15 academic year will be $39,550 for tuition, $5,950 for room, and $3,300 for board, which represents the smallest increase in over 20 years. The Board will review this year’s strategy and plan to make subsequent decisions regarding the College’s comprehensive fees each year at its fall meeting so prospective students and families as well as returning students and their families will know the costs of a Gustavus education one full year in advance.
“We want to make a Gustavus education as affordable as possible for our students and their families with a reasonable degree of assurity,” stated Gustavus President Jack Ohle. “Board members and the faculty and staff at the College understand the concerns and challenges facing today’s families, and we feel like this new pricing plan is a significant step toward addressing those concerns.”
More than 90 percent of Gustavus students receive merit-based scholarships, need-based financial aid, or both. These awards assist in making a nationally recognized liberal arts education affordable for all students. After four years on campus, Gustavus graduates are prepared to contribute and thrive anywhere in the world. Recent statistics on job placement verify the quality of their preparation. When surveyed, well over 95 percent of our graduates indicate that they are satisfied with their first jobs and career choices. Of those, more than 30 percent enroll directly in graduate or professional schools.
“Investing in the education of students who will live lives of leadership and service in society and work toward a just and peaceful world results in not only a financial return on investment but provides for our students a lifelong return on their Gustavus education,” President Ohle said.
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