"In setting the comprehensive fee, the Trustees continue their commitment to maintaining Amherst as one of the best colleges in the country," wrote President Tom Gerety in a letter to students and their families dated March 11. "That is never going to be an easy or inexpensive task. We work hard to balance our fiscal discipline with our intellectual ambitions ... I hope you believe as I do that an Amherst education is worth this large investment."
This is the 28th consecutive year that the College has increased the comprehensive fee. Increases in past years have ranged from 3.3 to 10.8 percent.
Mount Holyoke College announced an increase of 5.9 percent to $37,750 and Smith College an increase of six percent to $37,750, making these two colleges the most expensive of the five colleges, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette. Last week, Harvard University announced an increase of 5.5 percent to $37,928.
"A substantial portion of the operating budget is devoted to personnel costs and financial aid," said Treasurer Peter Shea. "In addition, the College needs to continue to invest in technology, other academic resources, and to fund new academic areas of knowledge as they emerge. These types of expenditures grow at an annual rate that is above the level of general inflation. As a result, the comprehensive fee, which represents approximately 56 percent of all revenues, needs to grow at a rate above inflation as well."
"The Board and the administration remain very concerned about affordability," he continued. "The calculation of the amount of financial aid a student receives takes into consideration the cost to attend the College. Increases in the comprehensive fee are factored into the amount of scholarship provided to each qualifying student." Shea explained that the scholarship expense for next year is budgeted to increase at a greater rate than the comprehensive fee to account for the fee increase itself, as well as the increase in the number of students that could qualify for aid as a result of the fee increase.
The College's operating budget now requires an annual expenditure of more than $60,000 per student. "Income from the endowment and from annual giving by alumni, parents and friends provides a substantial subsidy even for those students without scholarship help," said Gerety in his letter.
"Certainly the College is concerned about the cost of attendance, but the cost should be looked at in the context of the quality of the educational program the College provides," said Director of Financial Aid Joe Case. Case said that many factors are considered in determining a family's ability to pay for college, including income, assets, extraordinary expenses, family size, and the number of children in college. "Aid awards are adjusted for changes in these factors from year to year. So, for example, in the current period of economic downturn, we may find a larger number of students qualifying for larger amounts of financial aid." said Case. "The College's budget, however, accommodates changes in financial aid needs over time and has contingency reserves that may be drawn on as required."
President Gerety defended the increase. "We are not exorbitant at 4.9," he said. "In the balance of effort we make we try to keep very strong salaries and benefits, strong and good facilities and of course ... a very strong commitment to high aid. You can capture a lot of the strategy by saying that it is a high tuition-high aid-school." Gerety went on to liken the College to institutions such as Swarthmore and Ivy League universities in this respect.