$43.7K for 9 months? Getting harlarious!

Tuition Set To Rise 4.75% Next Year

But College will also expand financial aid

Published On Friday, March 24, 2006 4:50 PM

By EVAN H. JACOBS

Crimson Staff Writer

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Harvard College today announced 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.