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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

The Buck Stops Here

What does $60,000 mean to you? Perhaps a couple new cars, a good chunk of a house, an annual salary in tech or finance for a recent grad or the rounded comprehensive fee at Middlebury College. In 2009, colleges like Middlebury were cresting the $50,000 mark; now five years later, we are approaching $60,000, a change that has been met largely with silence and indifference.

We look around the world and see riots and protests over tuition increases in places like England, France and Canada where people are still fighting for democratic access to higher education. Take a school like McGill, where in the summer of 2012, thousands of students took to the streets to protest a $1,625 tuition increase—almost exactly the same hike we saw at Middlebury this past year. The difference of course is that tuition at McGill was under $3,000 prior to increase, but at the end of the day, these increases represent the same amount of money out of our pockets, or our future pockets, as the loans pile up. When does the price go from ridiculous to unacceptable?

To the College’s credit, we have mostly stuck to our “CPI plus 1” rule for the past five years, which means that we have limited our tuition increases to inflation plus 1 percent. In addition, awarding financial aid to 42 percent of the student body this past year shows an impressive commitment to college accessibility. These measures have slowed our annual tuition bumps, reduced financial burdens for a number of families, and brought us from being one of the most expensive schools among our competitors to being in the bottom quartile. But is that enough? Should we really be wedded to a model of infinite growth?

Maybe it is unavoidable. Maybe a college of Middlebury’s caliber needs to continue to grow — to build a new school in Korea or offer new programs like MiddCore in the summer. But are we paying for that? Adjusting for inflation is one thing; tacking on the additional 1 percent each year seems to imply growth somewhere in Middlebury’s global offerings.

But what if we as consumers are not satisfied? What if we even ventured to say that we already have too much? Between the Snow Bowl, the Golf Course, 51 Main, the Athletics Department, the Grille, the Museum of Art, or the Commons system, we have places and programs across all walks of life on campus that we sink money into.

The hard question that we as students can and should entertain is, how much of our considerable programming is essential and how much could we do without?

As an editorial board, we have in the past used this space to make concrete policy recommendations. But as we discussed how to cut costs and ultimately make Middlebury more accessible, we found it impossible because we did not have the information. All we have are broad assumptions and educated guesses. That needs to end. We want to know where our tuition goes. It is not good enough to say that it costs $80,000 a year to educate one Middlebury student, and so we should just be happy with what we pay. We want the College to open up its books so that the student body can follow the money and have a say in where that money goes and how it is spent.

As the College looks to choose a successor for President Liebowitz this year, we need a candidate who is committed to cutting costs and making accessibility a bigger part of the College’s mission. As we look at the goals associated with the ongoing branding effort, notably becoming more global and diverse, we cannot continue to ratchet up costs and increasingly cater to families in the top 5 percent of the income bracket in this country who can afford to pay full freight here. Access will be a barrier to becoming a national household name.

John McCardell Jr., one of the College’s most influential presidents, went to work at The University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., which made national news in 2011 for “bucking the trend” and cutting tuition. This is the kind of leadership we need to see here at Middlebury, but in the foreseeable future, tuition cuts do not seem likely. As long as there are multiple high school applicants glad to shell out $60,000 for every one student that is admitted, what incentive is there to critically evaluate the tuition? Even the Board of Trustees, the people charged with a fiduciary responsibility for the wellbeing of the college, seem content with the annual hike. But there is a breaking point, and it will come.

We should not sit idly by and watch Middlebury’s price tag grow exponentially. It is time for more transparency. While the comprehensive fee has served as an equalizer for incoming students, it is also a veil that obscures the College’s costs and prohibits dialogue.

Here is a place to start. Included in this year’s tuition hike was a 4.5 percent increase to room and board — the first departure from our CPI plus 1 rule in five years — bringing the total up to $13,116. Where is this increase being spent? Are we covering the salary of the new head of dining? Are we upgrading a dorm? Will this help to bring much-sought-after local foods to the dining halls? And where could we tighten the belt to prevent further increases?

These are the kind of questions we want to entertain, and yet we cannot with the current lack of transparency. Vice President for Finance and Treasurer Patrick Norton and President Liebowitz, please break down this amorphous comprehensive fee and give us the facts. We are the ones paying the price for these rises, yet we are left in the dark with no say in where that money goes. As consumers of the Middlebury experience, we are in the best position to see what’s being utilized and what is wasted. While we enjoy and value the services and opportunities that $60,000 allows us, it is time to take control of our wallets and be critical of what we are paying for.

 Artwork by NOLAN ELLSWORTH


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