The cost of attending Wesleyan University will rise to $38,224, an increase of 6.4 percent, in 2003-04. Tuition will account for $29,784, a student activities fee for $214, the average room rate for $5,138 and the average board rate for $3,088. The fees were set at a meeting of the Board of Trustees on March 8.
"We are working to keep our rates of tuition increase as low as possible, while at the same time enhancing the quality of the educational program," said Wesleyan President Douglas J. Bennet. "This increase enables Wesleyan to pursue its strategic objectives despite the uncertain economy. We have continued to strengthen our financial aid program to ensure that Wesleyan will remain affordable for students with all levels of family income and that talented students from around the country will be able to attend regardless of their economic circumstances."
Wesleyan's student financial aid budget will increase by almost $4 million to accommodate the fee increases and to continue meeting the goal of reducing student loan levels. As next year's first-year students enroll, the University will finish phasing in a program to cap students' four-year borrowing at $20,000 by substituting additional grants for loans. Student aid is one of four major fundraising goals of the Wesleyan Campaign, accounting for $96 million of the $250 million goal. The University remains need-blind, admitting students without regard for their ability to pay and then meeting their full demonstrated need. In the current year, 41 percent of Wesleyan students receive aid. The average grant is $19,107.
The University's operating budget for 2003-04 reflects substantially higher costs for health benefits, utilities, and property and casualty insurance, as well as diminished returns from endowment. Wesleyan also has budgeted to sustain competitive salary levels for faculty, to improve maintenance to student housing facilities, and to modestly augment instructional technologies and health services. The university will limit inflationary increases to discretionary budgets to 1 percent and will hold its major maintenance budget steady.
Wesleyan's fund-raising program brings in roughly $30 million each year for current programs, as well as for endowment to fund student aid, faculty support and the ongoing renewal of the physical campus.
Established in 1831, Wesleyan University is a leading university of the liberal arts and sciences, enrolling approximately 2,700 undergraduates and 150 graduate students.
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