As the end of October approached, Beloit College quietly published the cost of attendance on its website. As of writing, there has been no public announcement of this increase, with precedent showing that such an increase will be publicly announced to students sometime in March or April. Beloit Student Workers United has also shared the breakdown of the increase on social media.
The new cost of attendance is $80,542, a 3.9% increase from the 26-27 year. From the 2017-2018 year to the 2027-2028 year, the cost of attendance has gone up 42%. Tuition will be $65,578, housing (if it is a double) will be $7,158, and the blue meal plan will be $7,262. Health insurance through the college will cost $2,900.
It is important to note that while the cost of attendance is going up 3.9%, there is variation in the increases based on the specific category being discussed. Tuition itself is going up $1,786, or 2.8%. Housing is going up $276, or 4%. Board/meal plan is going up $948, or 15%. Health insurance is going up $344, or 13.5%. If you will not be living in a double, the $800 extra you pay for a single will go up $32, or 4%.
This increase was voted on by the Board of Trustees at their Oct. 1-2 meeting. The Board of Trustees is the body that governs the college. It currently has 30 members. The board is made up of mostly Beloit College alumni. The full board meets at least three times a year to decide the organizational direction of the college, and at their fall meeting every year, they vote on the cost of attendance for the following year.
This increase comes right on the heels of Beloit College’s All-In Pricing Guarantee. Of note is that the pricing guarantee only applies to applicants for the 27-28 academic year, and not any currently enrolled students. For those students currently enrolled, they can expect to see an increase in their cost of attendance for next year, with no matching of that increase from merit aid (student’s merit aid stays with them for four years at the amount they received for year one) or financial aid (the college does not have a blanket policy on this, and instead, applies a case-by-case review for students with high need). While the overall “sticker price” for cost of attendance will be going up 3.9%, it is difficult to say what percentage each student’s cost will go up by because almost no student pays the sticker price, and many pay varying amounts.
The less a student paid under the previous cost of attendance ($77,532), the higher their percentage increase will be, since the cost is going up for everyone by at least $3,010. For example, if you receive $40,000-$60,000 in aid this year, you could expect to see your cost go up 8%-17%.
All of these increases come on the heels of a failure in communication on cost increases last semester that were part of sparking a multi-week protest on campus. In meetings and communication sent out, the college seemed to acknowledge the failure in communication and stated that it would work to rebuild trust and provide transparent communication.
Featured image: Wikimedia Commons
Leave a Reply