<p>…Still a better value than most other Patriot League schools however.</p>
<p>"Students can expect to see a few more faculty and fewer freshmen next fall. But the increased student-to-faculty ratio won’t come without a price.</p>
<p>According to a campus-wide letter from President Dan Weiss, the cost of attending Lafayette will increase 6.4 percent next year to a total of $44,188 - a jump of </p>
<p>$2,823 up from last year’s cost of $41,365.</p>
<p>Weiss’ letter explained the college will use the money to specifically improve the student-to-faculty ratio by adding new professors and reducing the size of the incoming class. “The decision to raise our fees is part of an overall commitment to manage the college’s resources prudently while continuing to enrich our academic offerings,” the letter said.</p>
<p>In an interview earlier this week, Weiss said the changes will take effect next fall. He said there will be approximately 595 first-year students entering next fall - about 35 students smaller than the current freshman class. </p>
<p>Weiss said the faculty increase will be less drastic than the coming cuts in freshmen enrollment. “We’re in the process of it now, but there won’t be a significant increase in faculty next year,” he said. “It’s been a slow ramp up. For growth of faculty, you simply can’t hire a lot of new faculty in a year productively.”</p>
<p>Although the student-to-faculty is an indicator used for college ranking - particularly in the U.S. News and World Reports’ rankings - Weiss said it had no bearing on the college’s decision to try and increase the ratio.</p>
<p>“The rankings did not actually have an impact on this,” he said. “I believe the student-to-faculty ratio at a liberal arts college is a genuinely important factor. I don’t disagree with the ranking system’s use of it, because it tells what the learning and mentoring environment will be like.”</p>
<p>Weiss said the college’s tuition is lower than some of its fellow Patriot League schools. “The overall price of attending Lafayette is significantly less expensive than attending peer institutions, [specifically] Lehigh [University], Bucknell [University], and Colgate [University].”</p>