Ithaca College

At its winter meeting, February 16–17, the Ithaca College Board of Trustees approved a budget for 2011–12 that features the smallest rate of increase in tuition, room and board in nine years.

Ithaca College tuition next year will be $35,278, with fees for standard room and board at $12,854. This will bring the total cost of attendance next year to $48,132, an increase of 4.76 percent. This represents the smallest rate of increase since 2002–3.

In a letter to parents announcing next year’s charges, President Tom Rochon noted that it is an ongoing challenge for any institution to ensure that its students have every opportunity to pursue their talents and interests, both inside and outside of the classroom.

“As I am sure you do when planning your family budget, we employ considerable diligence in our annual budgeting process in deciding how to best allocate resources — balancing the obligation to meet the needs of our students with the demands of a difficult economy,” he wrote. “I believe that the budget we have developed reflects our ongoing efforts to control expenses and to implement the lowest possible cost adjustment while continuing to improve the already-high quality of an Ithaca College education.”

Accompanying the letter was a chart showing the tuition charges for the current year at a group of 20 private colleges and universities with which Ithaca annually compares itself. Ithaca’s rate for 2011–12 will still be lower than this year’s tuition at all but four of those institutions.

Pointing out that the college has been consistently cited as a “best buy” by “U.S. News and World Report,” Rochon wrote that such external benchmarks help provide validation for the value of an Ithaca College education.

“I feel strongly that our investment — and yours — in providing your son or daughter with a first-rate education is the best investment you can make in his or her future.”