College Tuition On the Rise

Harvard College announced on March 24 a 4.75 percent increase in tuition for the 2006-2007 academic year, bringing overall tuition to $43,655 per student.

The College also announced a 6.2 percent increase in scholarships for the upcoming academic year, bringing total aid to $90 million.

Both tuition and aid will increase at a slightly faster rate than they did last year, when tuition was raised by 4.5 percent and scholarships were increased by 5.8 percent.

The average student aid package next year will be just under $33,000, according to a press release issued by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Office of Communications.

“We are very pleased to offer such exceptional financial support to our undergraduates,” Dean of the Faculty William C. Kirby said in the press release. “We do so because quality deserves quality: outstanding students from all backgrounds deserve an equal chance at securing a strong education.”

The announcement comes just over two years after University President Lawrence H. Summers unveiled the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative (HFAI), which eliminated tuition payments for families making less than $40,000 a year and cut costs for families earning between $40,000 and $60,000.

Nearly 360 current freshmen qualify for HFAI, up 22 percent from the previous year, according to figures released by the Office of Admissions last April.

This year’s 4.75 percent hike falls in line with the recent rate of tuition growth at Harvard. Over the past five years, tuition increased on average by 4.7 percent annually.

Tuition at Harvard has increased more slowly than costs at private four-year schools in general; according to the College Board, the overall tuition and fees at private four-year schools in the United States have risen at an average annual rate of 5.8 from 2001 to 2006.

Yet while Harvard College’s rate of increase has been smaller than at many other schools, it still continues to outstrip inflation—even in the higher education sector.

The Higher Education Price Index—a gauge of inflation calculated by Commonfund, an investment firm in Wilton, Conn. that serves schools and other nonprofit organizations—has increased by an average annual rate of 3.4 percent over the past five years. The index measures movements in the prices of goods and services purchased by colleges and universities.

In an interview on Monday, Kirby pointed to a “very significant spike in energy costs” as one of the major factors that are driving up expenses for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

—Staff writer Evan H. Jacobs can be reached at ehjacobs@fas.harvard.edu.