Fee anxiety tops parental concerns

Author: Brian Fung

Getting a small, thin envelope in the mail from a top college or university typically spells disappointment for hopeful students seeking their place in higher education. And as long as competition and selectivity remain watchwords of the college admissions game, that kind of anxiety is unlikely to fade.

These days, however, it may be parents' turn to worry as another type of small, thin envelope threatens to eclipse the first. Rather than expressing regret or sympathy, this communiqué is far more dispassionate, packed to the margins with numbers and breakdowns and other calculations.

What parents dread today isn't a rejection letter - it's a tuition bill.

College costs have skyrocketed to new heights in recent years, with students enrolled at private four-year institutions like Middlebury paying on average 30 percent more for their education than they did just a decade ago, according to data provided by The College Board. And the trend shows few signs of slowing. With many schools annually hiking their rates by between five- and 5.5 percent - and in some cases by as much as 6.5 percent - some parents are getting restless.

"We sort of had this feeling of, 'Oh no, not again,' " said Kathi Knise, a Middlebury parent who last week received a letter sent to all families announcing the College's comprehensive fee for the 2008-2009 academic year. Middlebury administrators set the new price tag on March 27 at $49,210 - the second-priciest fee among the College's peer institutions, behind Wesleyan University, whose fee for underclassmen trumps Middlebury's by $60. Juniors and seniors at Wesleyan will be expected to shell out nearly $51,000 in the upcoming fall and spring for their education.

Knise's attitude mirrors that of a growing number of parents at a time when inflation rates are up, the economy's general health is down and salaries are flat-lining. Finding the resources to pay for tuition, room and board is becoming increasingly difficult - yet at the same time, said Knise, parents everywhere are under pressure to dig deeper into their pockets.

"When you look at your kid," she said, "and they get into a great school, a wonderful school, you keep sacrificing in other areas so that you can afford to send him to a school that you think is ultimately a great investment. You keep cutting on the other side of the equation."

In an effort to stem that sort of exhaustive cutting, private loan providers, federal lawmakers and now institutions themselves are becoming involved in holding back the rising tide of college fees. Middlebury's latest comprehensive fee increase of 4.9 percent reflected a conscious decision to assist struggling families, said President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz in a phone interview. Though the Board of Trustees recommended a fee hike of between five and 5.25 percent, Liebowitz took dramatic steps to limit the rate of increase, surpassing the expectations of even the Student Government Association (SGA) Comprehensive Fee Committee, which had proposed a 4.95 percent jump.

But even as colleges take unilateral steps to assist middle- and lower-income families, and Congress passes bipartisan legislation putting pressure on private student lenders, Middlebury students and parents nonetheless are bracing themselves for the inevitable letter from Old Chapel announcing that the comprehensive fee has risen to exceed $50,000.

"I don't have much of a sense of what $50,000 even really means," said Heather Pangle '10, explaining the difficulty in overcoming what many see as a real psychological hurdle. Passing the milestone will confirm the College's status as an elite institution - boasting a sticker price to match the tag - but that thought has already raised questions about whether the administration is doing enough to keep costs under control.

Middlebury's need-blind admissions policy and commitment to meet students' full demonstrated financial need currently represent the most responsible approach to College finances, administrators and key student leaders say. Aside from a campus-wide e-mail on April 7 announcing a further reduction in the student loan component of financial aid packages beginning in the fall of 2008, no dramatic changes to financial aid policy can be expected for the foreseeable future. While the administration has discussed the elimination of student loans entirely from its aid packages in the wake of similar decisions by peer institutions like Amherst and Williams Colleges, Middlebury currently has no plans to follow suit.

Indeed, after a one-year respite, Middlebury families could see the rate of comprehensive fee increases return to their old levels. The size of the annual increases is largely dictated by variable factors that include energy and food prices, as well as traditionally high inflation rates among products like books and technology. Given those economic variables, the College will likely run into trouble trying to sustain low annual fee hikes, said SGA Comprehensive Fee Committee Chair AnnMarie Wesolowski '08.

Executive Vice President and Treasurer of the College Bob Huth offered a more reserved analysis.

"If you can look into your crystal ball and tell me how well the endowment fund's going to do in the future and how much our donors are willing to provide to us," said Huth in a phone interview, "I can give you a fairly accurate answer."

But answers seem to be in short supply at the College, as an overwhelming number of students - nearly 90 percent of respondents to a January SGA survey - expressed interest in learning more about how the comprehensive fee is used. Middlebury parent Ed Lefrak made similar requests in an e-mail to The Campus, criticizing as "patronizing" Old Chapel's argument that parents should view mounting costs as an "extraordinary investment."

"To appear to empirically increase the tuition without explaining the change in detail seems inappropriate and unfair," wrote Lefrak. "Any increase above the established cost of living change deserves a thorough consideration and explanation."

Though detailed financial information is available on the College Web site, what community members are now asking for is an active administrative effort to reach out and explain its budgeting practices directly and openly. Whether that will happen remains unclear. For the moment, the College appears poised to maintain the status quo.

SGA President Max Nardini '08 admitted that economics are hardly his forte, and in an interview, apologized for offering what he considered a relatively simple assessment of the situation.

Maybe, though, simplicity is exactly what this equation needs.

"As Middlebury increases services," explained Nardini, "the price is bound to go up."