At last week’s town meeting, President Shirley Ann Jackson announced several of the figures of the Institute’s 2006 fiscal year budget. As part of this budget, tuition will rise seven percent, to an even $31,000—up from $28,950 just last year. While we realize that the costs of running the Institute are not constant, and indeed rise with time, we are not convinced that such a rise—on top of the room and board increases—has been satisfactorily justified to the student body.
Changes are certainly being made on campus; many improvements under The Rensselaer Plan are indisputable. At the same time, however, one wants to know: Is such a high increase necessary to make this progress? It would be beneficial to see a much more detailed description of why this much of a hike was needed and why these funds could not have been attained by other means.
We commend the inclusion of a new fund in this year’s budget that will help upperclass students with demonstrated financial need help afford increases in tuition. This is certainly something that has been needed for quite some time, and we are pleased to see it finally brought to fruition.
Students who do not have this demonstrated financial need, however, do not stand to receive any additional benefits under the current plan as the cost of attendance rises. Perhaps this is an area that can be improved upon in coming years, but in the meantime, current students will feel the full effect of the higher tuition, room, and board.
RPI is in the midst of a $1 billion Capital Campaign, by far the largest ever embarked upon by the Institute. Why is hiking tuition by seven percent, the highest increase in recent years, needed at the same time? While progress and improvements are goals that students, administrators, and faculty alike can all embrace, one must take great care in keeping the costs to attaining these as low as possible, and simultaneously ensure that large cost increases to any parties are fully justified.
