Tuition to Rise 3.5 Percent; Rate of Increase Declines

The total cost of tuition, room and board at the College for the 1998-99 school year is expected to rise 3.5 percent to $31,132--the smallest percentage increase in 30 years.

This will be the seventh year in a row that Harvard has lowered the rate of its tuition growth. The average rate of increase over the last 20 years has been 8.7 percent.

The reduced rate also falls below last year's family income growth of about 4 percent nationally.

In announcing the tuition growth rate Wednesday, Jeremy R. Knowles, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), stressed the strength of Harvard's financial aid program.

"Harvard College intends to continue its strong commitment to need-blind admissions and full need-based aid," Knowles said in a statement.

Knowles' decision comes just after Yale, Princeton and Stanford announced expanded financial aid programs for aid middle-class students.

"This year's increase is lower than nearly all of the tuition increases that I have seen from our peer institutions," Knowles said.

Yale College, however, has announced a reduction from 3.7 percent tuition growth to 2.9 percent, a 30-year low for Yale as well.

The full cost for tuition, room and board at Yale has been set at $30,830 for next year. In addition, Yale said it will alter the way it calculates financial need.

Yale's endowment--which did particularly well during

Stanford University has approved a tuitionpackage increase of 3.5 percent, in addition tomaking changes in its methods of determiningfinancial need.

The new policies were designed to helpalleviate "the pressures facing middle-classparents," said Stanford President Gerhard Casper.

Knowles said Harvard's program, too, will bescrutinized. "In the coming months we shall reviewour programs and our practices to ensure thatHarvard College remains accessible, affordable andattractive," Knowles said.

Students said they saw Harvard's move as aresponse to those at other Ivy league colleges."What they need to do is keep tuition competitivewith other schools," said Yeong Loh '98.

But Loh said he was skeptical of how effectivethe change will be. "It won't help much becausethe reduction isn't that much," he said.

Richard A. Perez '00 also said he saw thereduction as a response to Yale, Princeton andStanford, but he expressed disappointment with thescope of the change.

"It would be a good thing if they changed thepackage, but lowering the amount they raise itdoesn't do much," he said.

Harvard currently maintains "needblind"financial aid policies that it says allow theCollege to admit any student, regardless ofability to pay.

At present, nearly 70 percent of undergraduatesreceive some form of financial aid. This year, $42million dollars in scholarship grants wereawarded, benefiting nearly one half of the studentbody, according to Knowles.

The smaller increase in Harvard's tuition stemspartly from cost-cutting methods undertaken by theUniversity, Knowles said. He noted thateducational costs continued to grow.

"Information technology, library materials andother costs essential for sustaining Harvard'sacademic programs continue to rise faster than the[Consumer Price Index]," he said.

Also of note, the FAS endowment has grown bymore than 25 percent during each of the past twofiscal years. Over the same period, the amount offunding provided by the FAS's endowment rosenearly 16 percent, or 22 million dollars.

Currently, tuition and fees cover about halfthe cost of educating a student, Knowles said.CrimsonJennifer 8. LeeCurbing Costs Tuition Percentage IncreaseOver Previous Academic Year

Stanford University has approved a tuitionpackage increase of 3.5 percent, in addition tomaking changes in its methods of determiningfinancial need.

The new policies were designed to helpalleviate "the pressures facing middle-classparents," said Stanford President Gerhard Casper.

Knowles said Harvard's program, too, will bescrutinized. "In the coming months we shall reviewour programs and our practices to ensure thatHarvard College remains accessible, affordable andattractive," Knowles said.

Students said they saw Harvard's move as aresponse to those at other Ivy league colleges."What they need to do is keep tuition competitivewith other schools," said Yeong Loh '98.

But Loh said he was skeptical of how effectivethe change will be. "It won't help much becausethe reduction isn't that much," he said.

Richard A. Perez '00 also said he saw thereduction as a response to Yale, Princeton andStanford, but he expressed disappointment with thescope of the change.

"It would be a good thing if they changed thepackage, but lowering the amount they raise itdoesn't do much," he said.

Harvard currently maintains "needblind"financial aid policies that it says allow theCollege to admit any student, regardless ofability to pay.

At present, nearly 70 percent of undergraduatesreceive some form of financial aid. This year, $42million dollars in scholarship grants wereawarded, benefiting nearly one half of the studentbody, according to Knowles.

The smaller increase in Harvard's tuition stemspartly from cost-cutting methods undertaken by theUniversity, Knowles said. He noted thateducational costs continued to grow.

"Information technology, library materials andother costs essential for sustaining Harvard'sacademic programs continue to rise faster than the[Consumer Price Index]," he said.

Also of note, the FAS endowment has grown bymore than 25 percent during each of the past twofiscal years. Over the same period, the amount offunding provided by the FAS's endowment rosenearly 16 percent, or 22 million dollars.

Currently, tuition and fees cover about halfthe cost of educating a student, Knowles said.CrimsonJennifer 8. LeeCurbing Costs Tuition Percentage IncreaseOver Previous Academic Year