The undergraduate tuition for next year has been determined and approved by the president at an increase of 5.5 percent. However, the graduate tuition remains unchanged at $700 per credit hour.
The recommendation by the Enrollment Planning Committee, chaired by Theresa Duffy, set the undergraduate tuition at $24,820, an increase of $1,995 over this year’s $23,525.
"This increase, for many reasons, is frankly modest," said Interim Vice President for Student Life Eddie Knowles.
Compared to institutes and colleges that are considered to be competitors of Rensselaer, Rensselaer’s tuition has been "right in the middle," said Knowles.
Some of these competitors include MIT, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, John Hopkins, Lehigh, Clarkson, and Carnegie Mellon.
Tuition revenue is mainly used to support academic programs and pay for scholarships. Of next year’s revenue, 39 percent will go towards funding Rensselaer scholarships and financial aid.
"Tuition does not really pay all the costs, other sources are very necessary in insuring a quality education and environment," said Knowles.
He also added that the Institute Performance Planning takes into consideration all these factors to provide students with "the best that we could offer."
Notably, last years tuition was also increased 5.5 percent from the previous year. "We are trying to keep the percentage increase constant at 5.5 percent," said Knowles.
