Ithaca College

Meeting in New York City February 27–28, the Ithaca College Board of Trustees approved a budget that continues the college's implementation of its Institutional Plan and sets tuition rates for the 2008–9 academic year.

Undergraduate tuition for next year will be $30,606, with fees for room (standard double occupancy), board, and health insurance at $11,577. This will bring the total cost of attendance in 2008–9 to $42,183, an increase of 5.99% from this year.

In a letter to students' parents announcing the rates, President Peggy R. Williams said that the increase reflects the college's ongoing efforts to control expenses and to implement the lowest possible cost adjustment while continuing to improve the quality of an Ithaca College education.

"As part of our annual budgeting process, we examine current expenses and employ considerable diligence in reallocating existing resources to meet new needs and priorities," she wrote. "We also continually seek methods for reducing the College's debt load and increasing both gift revenue and endowment income. Finally, only after exploring every other possible revenue stream, do we consider raising the rates for tuition, room, and board."

Williams pointed out that the true cost of educating each Ithaca student is approximately $6,000 more than the current tuition charge, with the college subsidizing the difference. "It is important to note that, with more than 85 percent of our students receiving financial aid, over $64 million from the operating budget this year will go toward providing student financial assistance," Williams wrote.

The Ithaca College budget for next year will support the continued implementation of the Institutional Plan. Funds have been allocated for such initiatives as the expansion of the First Year Seminar program, establishment of an Office of Assessment, enhanced safety and security measures, and the planned occupancy in the fall of a new Gateway Building that will consolidate such student services as the admission, financial aid, and bursar offices.

Included in the letter was a chart showing tuition fees at a group of 20 regionally competitive private colleges and universities with which Ithaca College has compared itself for the past two decades. Ithaca's tuition for next year is still lower than the current tuition for nearly all of those institutions.