According to Lucille Marottolo, assistant to the senior vice president for finance and administration, the cost of tuition and room and board at Quinnipiac will increase by 7.95 percent to $39,920 in the fall.
In the 2007-08 academic year tuition will be $27,600 and room and board will be $11,200. Other student fees will cost $1,120. The tuition figure is determined by the offices of finance and admissions and approved by the Board of Trustees.
The increase comes as a result of increasing expenses. “We’re just trying to pay our expenses and provide good quality education for our students,” Marottolo said.
This year tuition is $25,240, room and board is $10,700 and student fees are $1,040. Next year’s increase surpasses past annual increases of roughly seven percent.
Among the factors contributing to the increase in tuition are the rising cost of laboratory supplies, communications equipment, video equipment and other necessary components of a modern university. Part of the cost increase will also go toward paying faculty salaries.
Soaring energy prices are another major factor in the increase. “We have to look at the university as a whole when we’re setting tuition and one of the biggest expenses that we’re facing as a university is the cost of energy,” Marottolo said.
Quinnipiac also determines its cost of admission by evaluating those of a group of 13 similar private colleges in the Northeast. The group includes Villanova University, Fordham University, and Seton Hall University. In the 2006-07 academic year, Quinnipiac’s total cost of admission was seventh most expensive among the group of 13 schools. Villanova topped the list at $42,860.
Quinnipiac has no intention of raising its costs to a level comparable to that of higher-priced schools.
Students reacted differently to the tuition increase. “As long as the school is spending money on entertainment aspects such as the stadium, I think it takes away from the true process of having better salaries for teachers and better education for students,” said Jamin Bricker, a senior communications major.
Mary Mongarella, a freshman psychology major, was not pleased with the news of an increase in the cost of attending Quinnipiac. “I think Quinnipiac milks us for all the money we have. Nothing here is cheap,” she said.
Michael Giglietti, a senior accounting major, felt more positively about the tuition increase. “I see where they’re coming from. They’re making the effort to move to a more academic school,” he said.
