$47,370. According to figures from the College’s Office of Financial Aid, that is the estimated amount of money, including the cost of books and personal expenses, that every student will pay to attend Oberlin College for the 2007-2008 academic year.

This is an increase of $2,416 from last year, over a five percent increase, in total cost to attend the school. This is not the first time that Oberlin’s tuition has pushed over the price set by the previous year.

The annual tuition and fee cost to the student was only $24,264 for the 2000-2001 school year, almost half the total of next scholastic year’s full tuition. That is an average yearly increase of $3,851 over six years.

Some students are feeling the repercussions of this gradual hike. “Oberlin will give you as many loans as you need,” said College junior Deysi Villarreal, a low-income student. “But that ruins future plans because now the total amount of loans has gone up around 33 percent.”

One of the many problems with an increase in total cost is that many low-income families will be unable to send their children here because they cannot pay full tuition. One of the financial goals in the Strategic Plan was to retain the same number of full-pay tuition students while cutting 163 undergraduate student positions by 2010. In short, the College will cover some of its financial losses by accepting fewer low-income students.

Vice President for Finance Ron Watts and Director of Financial Aid Rob Reddy did not respond to repeated interview requests.

International institutions do not place such a high economic demand on their students. Tuition in Canadian institutions, for example, averaged to $4,347 Canadian, around $3,928 American, according to Canada’s National Statistical Agency on September 1, 2006.

But, as in their American counterparts, tuition in Canadian universities is on the rise, as it is in many of the established universities worldwide such as those in Britain, Germany and Italy. Granted, they all have gone up accordingly, but at the same time the universities themselves are making it hard for low-income students to attend their schools.

“My mom makes $16,000 a year,” Villarreal noted. “That’s one-third of the total cost to now attend Oberlin.”

Although the tuition hike worldwide puts much duress and strain on low-income families, those individuals like Villareal look to the future and the future of their children for the support they need to keep going.

“Overall, I will have a fulfilling job [with an Oberlin degree], one that will allow me to succeed in life, and maybe my kids can one day be more fortunate than myself,” Villareal said.