Stanford raises undergraduate tuition 3.5 percent for 2011-12 academic year

The Stanford University Board of Trustees has approved a 3.5 percent increase in total undergraduate charges – tuition, room and board – for the next academic year.
Total undergraduate charges will increase to $52,341 for the 2011-12 academic year, which includes $40,050 for tuition and $12,291 for room and board.
Trustees also approved tuition hikes for graduate students ranging from 3.5 percent – for general graduate students, engineering and medical students – to 5.75 percent for law students.
"This increase really balances our need for unrestricted operating funds," said Leslie Hume, chair of the Board of Trustees, adding that 57 percent of the university's general funds budget comes from tuition revenue. (The general funds budget, which can be used for any university purpose, supports most of the core academic and administrative activities at Stanford.)
Speaking at a Tuesday briefing following the board's Feb. 7-8 meeting, Hume said the increase will enable Stanford to raise faculty salaries and to begin reinstating faculty positions frozen during the recent recession.
She emphasized that Stanford remains committed to its generous financial aid program for undergraduates.
"Any tuition increase will be met with additional funds for families whose financial circumstances are unchanged," she said.
Hume said Stanford is projected to spend $122 million on undergraduate financial aid in 2012, compared with $66 million in 2007.
"Rick Shaw [dean of undergraduate admission and financial aid] and his team are doing a great job of getting the word out about Stanford's financial aid, so families out there just don't see the cost of tuition and room and board and say, 'My child can never go to Stanford,'" Hume said. "Yes, your child can go to Stanford, because of our financial aid program."
Stanford's need-based financial aid program for undergraduates is designed to ensure that a family's economic circumstances will not prevent a student from attending Stanford. Parents making less than $60,000 a year are not expected to pay tuition or contribute to the costs of room and board and other expenses. Families making less than $100,000 a year do not pay tuition. Students still are expected to contribute their earnings from work during the summer and academic year. The program, which was established in 2008, also eliminated the need for student loans.

Charges for undergraduate education

Next year, undergraduate tuition will rise 3.5 percent to $40,050, compared with $38,700 this year.
Next year, room and board charges will rise 3.5 percent to $12,291, including $7,012 for campus housing and $5,279 for meal plans. Currently, undergraduates pay $11,876 for room and board, including $6,700 for housing and $5,176 for meal plans.

Graduate tuition

Standard graduate tuition will rise 3.5 percent to $40,050 next year, compared with $38,700 this year.
The standard tuition rate for graduate students taking 8 to 10 units will rise 3.5 percent to $26,040 next year, compared with $25,170 this year.
Last March, Stanford announced plans to reduce the terminal graduate registration (TGR) tuition, a special tuition rate for graduate students who have completed their coursework and are working on their dissertations. Previously, the rate was $2,760 per quarter, or $11,040 for four quarters. Beginning in the 2010-11 academic year, the tuition was reduced nearly 9 percent to the lowest standard graduate tuition rate (1-3 units) of $2,517 per quarter, or $10,068 for four quarters. Next year, TGR tuition will rise 3.5 percent to $2,605 per quarter, or $10,420 for four quarters. Eligible students may enroll in up to 3 units of coursework per quarter at this rate.
Tuition for graduate students in the School of Engineering will increase 3.5 percent to $42,660 next year, compared with $41,220 this year.
Tuition at Stanford Law School will rise 5.75 percent to $47,460 next year, compared with $44,880 this year.
At the Graduate School of Business, current MBA students will pay $53,118 in tuition next year, the same amount they paid this year, under a program in which MBA students pay the same tuition during each of their two years of study.
Tuition for entering MBA students will rise 3.9 percent to $55,200 next year, compared with $53,118 this year. (Students enrolled in PhD programs at the Business School pay the same rate as general graduate students.)
At the School of Medicine, tuition for incoming first-year medical students will increase 3.5 percent to $45,743 next year, compared with $44,196 this year. Tuition for current MD students will rise 3.5 percent to $48,223 next year, compared with $46,593 this year.

Student Health Fee

The Campus Health Service Fee for all students on the main campus will increase by 3.5 percent, the same increase as general tuition. The new fee will be $173 per quarter, effective in the fall of 2011. For more information about the health fee, visit http://vaden.stanford.edu/fees.

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/february/tuition-fees-update-020911.html