Breaking with previous increases of about four and five percent, trustees approved a major tuition hike for next year during Saturday’s spring Board meeting: 5.8 percent.
The top rate: $38,038, for students on board who are living in off-campus college housing or apartments. Tuition rose $1,620.
While not unexpected, the tuition increase represents a tangible and painful reminder of what a deflating economy means to students. Confronted with a sinking endowment, the College has been forced to look to its primary revenue stream: student charges.
“Our endowment support is obviously being reduced because of the downturn in the market,” Vice President for Finance Ron Watts said. “Tuition is really replacing part of the reduction in endowment support for the operations.”
Watts stated that Oberlin’s tuition increase will likely be larger than many peer schools that make up the Consortium on Financing Higher Education, of which Oberlin is a part. The consortium is comprised of 31 schools including Swarthmore, Wesleyan and Yale.
Without all schools reporting, Watts speculated that Oberlin might rank in the top quarter, or at least above the median.
“I think most of the range is probably between five and seven [percent], other than state schools which are almost double digit,” he said. “We’re probably above the average.”
At last glimpse, in December, the endowment stood at $481 million. Not including more than $30 million in operating withdrawals, Oberlin lost 2.9 percent on its endowment last year.
Room and board rose 6.2 percent and 5.8 percent respectively. Last year’s total increase was five percent.
Adjusted for inflation, tuition has risen about nine percent in the past five years. President Nancy Dye downplayed the effect.
“The socioeconomic makeup of Oberlin’s student body has not changed,” she said.