1990Dad

Gives some historical increase numbers.

Chicago Maroon | College tuition increases by 4.8 percent

phuriku

I saw this article a while ago. I was curious what this statement meant:

"Students who receive need-based aid contribute an average of $9,000 from their personal resources toward tuition, room and board, and other fees."

Does this mean that the average expected student contribution is $9k? Surely it doesn't mean that the average tuition is $9k? If it's the former, I don't see how it's relevant.

And here's the real reason for the outrageous tuition increase.

idad

Some years ago Chicago was a relative bargain compared to its Ivy plus peers. This was when the College population was in the 3000's. Once the decision was made to increase College enrollment various things were tried to increase applicants. The most effective short term change that substantially increased applications was an increase in tuition to match peer schools. If tuition is too cheap, people tend to undervalue the education offered by the school.

muzicgirl89

that's true but to offset the tuition increases Uchicago should probably be giving better aid (whether they can afford to yet I'm not quite sure).

P.S.- not going to Chicago, but have 1-2 friends who will be attending and have always be quite fond of the school myself so I commented anyways .

newmassdad

idad,

Actually, the reason to increase the size of the college and the increase in tuition are related. Both have been part of a deliberate strategy to beef up the finances of the place, since uofc makes money on undergrads. And yes, I have insider knowledge on the topic, so I can't go into more detail.

idad

You are right and I am somewhat aware of that. From what I understand, the surprise was that raising tuition produced such a big increase.

Just a side note: Using an inflation calculator, based on inflation alone, the amount I paid in tuition would be just under $14,000 in 2008 dollars.