Graphic by Daniel Gourvitch/The Hoya  

Georgetown University’s Board of Directors approved tuition increases this week, raising the cost of attending Georgetown as a full-time undergraduate from $27,864 to $29,808 for the 2004-05 academic year.

The 7 percent increase in Main Campus tuition is accompanied by a 5 percent increase in room and board, which will rise from $9,183 to $9,642. Together with fees and expenses, such as travel and books, the total cost of attendance reaches $42,260, up from $40,270 last year.

This year’s increases are greater than last year’s increases of 5 percent for Main Campus undergraduate tuition and 4 percent for room and board.

Graduate student tuition will also increase by 7 percent, from $25,728 to $27,528 for full-time students taking 12 credits.

According to a statement from Provost James J. O’Donnell, factors including facilities maintenance, growing costs of employee benefits, market influences in the area of higher education and a commitment to financial assistance for all students in need contributed to this year’s tuition rise.

“Although a 7 percent tuition increase is higher than it has been in recent years, the fiscal year 2005 budget allows us to continue our efforts to make faculty salaries more competitive, offer financial aid so that Georgetown is accessible for all students, and provide new and modern campus facilities,” O’Donnell said in a statement Tuesday.

And while tuition increased by a greater percentage than in past years, Georgetown officials said they remain committed to the university’s need-blind admissions policy and vow to provide sufficient financial assistance for any qualified student attending Georgetown.

“Because we meet the full need of our undergraduate students, needy students will not be adversely affected in any way by the tuition increase,” Patricia McWade, dean of Student Financial Services, said in an e-mail. “Students will not have to work or borrow any additional amounts.”

According to the university press release, approximately 50 percent of Georgetown undergraduates receive some form of financial aid, and an estimated $35.5 million will be spent on financial aid for students on the Main Campus next year.

This proportional increase in the amount given for financial aid represents only one of the additional expenditures the tuition hikes aims to account for. The university’s cost for employee benefits will increase by 3 percent, the statement said, with increasing health care costs being a dominant influence behind this rise.

Others expenses result from the recent addition of the Southwest Quadrangle, along with the renovation of the student space in the former New South dining hall. The tuition increase will also account for ongoing and anticipated university projects, including the construction of the Davis Performing Arts Center and a planned $20 million renovation effort of residence halls, including the New South residence hall, in the coming year.

Yet not all the factors responsible for the increase in tuition are as explicit as a building like O’Donovan Hall.

“We were very concerned about such a large increase [in tuition] without a marked increase in services,” Eric Lashner (COL ’05), a student member of the Main Campus Planning Committee, the body that advises the Provost on decisions affecting the Main Campus, said.

Lashner said that the decision to raise tuition was not taken lightly, but was made to address a variety of economic concerns facing the university and ensure the economic well-being of the school.

“We need to make sure that we’re financially healthy,” he said. “Everybody’s kind of baring the brunt of trying to get the university financially stable.”

Despite the fundraising efforts of Georgetown’s $1 billion Third Century Campaign and optimism about future prosperity, Georgetown’s endowment is not strong enough to allow the university to forgo larger tuition increases.

“We must invest in our faculty, students and facilities in order to sustain our tradition of academic excellence,” O’Donnell said.

“Tuition increases are one element of the overall budget that each GU campus puts together to make up the university’s overall financial plan and budget,” Julie Green Bataille, assistant vice president for communications, said.

Yet annual increases in tuition are not unique to Georgetown. According to a 2003 College Board report entitled Trends in College Pricing, college costs have been rising – and usually faster than the economy’s rate of inflation – since the mid-1980s.

Nationwide tuition costs at private colleges rose an average of 42 percent from 1993-94 to 2003-04, and last year’s average national inflation-adjusted increase in tuition of 8 percent represented a growth rate higher than any in 20 years.

Nearby George Washington University recently announced a five percent increase in undergraduate tuition for the forthcoming academic year and Johns Hopkins University raised tuition by 4.9 percent.