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Tiffany Nunez (left) & Charlee Smith (right) Courtesy of Charlee Smith |
Click. Click. Click. Smack! Slamming her laptop shut and scurrying to find her Blackberry, sophomore Charlee Smith unearthed her phone from the pile of papers on her desk to call her father. She had just read Sr. Margaret Carney’s e-mail. St. Bonaventure University had raised tuition again.
Carney, the university president, informed students of a 3.7 percent increase in an e-mail to the campus community on Feb. 3.
The tuition increased by $995 from $26,895 in the 2010-2011 academic year.
According to Emily Sinsabaugh, vice president of university relations, the cost of utilities, faculty and staff salaries, different activities, programs and services at the university and competing universities’ tuition determined the cost of tuition.
The new Career and Professional Readiness Center, opening next semester, put further financial constraints on next year’s tuition, adding to the increase, she said.
However, Sinsabaugh said 3.7 percent has been the lowest increase in the past four years.
“Last year, tuition increased by 3.9 percent and the year before that tuition increased by 4.5 percent,” she said.
Smith, an undeclared business major, doesn’t care.
“My dad is retired, and his savings are running out because he is paying for himself and three kids to go to school,” she said. “On top of that, financial aid hates me because right now my dad’s savings are still too high to get aid. What am I supposed to do?”
University scholarships and financial aid would remain the same for students as tuition increased, Sinsabaugh said.
“The only way financial aid will increase is if a student’s financial situation changes,” she said.
Ultimately, the state and federal governments control financial aid allotments. Bonaventure can only expose students to potential scholarships and grants. Nothing extra can be done, Sinsabaugh said.
But with a $39,575 estimated cost of attendance, Sinsabaugh aims at recruiting 625 incoming freshmen and/or transfer students.
According to the St. Bonaventure Net Cost Calculator found on www.sbu.edu, the $39,575 includes not only tuition but books and supplies, room and board, as well as other personal costs. Students input personal and family information as it relates to financial aid, and the calculator generates an estimated net cost.
Sinsabaugh said that releasing the estimated cost of attendance early while students are just starting to be accepted to different colleges helps Bonaventure recruit.
Bonaventure continually announces its tuition for the following year before its competitors to allow families time to plan for the new expenses they would incur, Sinsabaugh said.
Stephanie Petty, a Palmyra-Macedon High School senior, agreed.
“It wouldn't be nice to find out after I've put in my deposit what the full cost would be and have it be a shock,” she said.
As of now, most prospective students interviewed said loans and different grants would be their main source of payment for college.
“Right now the plan is lots of student loans and scholarship money,” said Liz Roney, a Gates-Chili High School senior and prospective English major. “Being one of seven children, my parents are not going to be able to provide me with a lot of help financially. So the hope is that the education I will receive at Bonaventure will be worth living in debt for a very long time.”
However, if the tuition continues to increase, both current and prospective students said they are uneasy about it.
“My family isn’t rich, so we are already struggling to pay for school now,” said Tiffany Nunez, a sophomore psychology major. “It’s not right that it goes up every year because that makes it harder for the kids who want to stay in school but can’t afford to.”
“If the tuition continues to increase, I may be forced to reevaluate my future at Bonaventure,” Roney said. “Hopefully it won't come to that.”
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