The cost of tuition, room and board for undergraduate students at Yale during the 1997-98 academic year will increase 3.7 percent, the smallest percentage increase since 1968-69, President Richard C. Levin has announced.
The annual cost for students in Yale College will be $29,950 next year, an increase of $1,070 from the current year's total of $28,880. It includes $23,100 for tuition, a 4 percent increase over this year's $22,200 tuition, and $6,850 for room and board, a 2.5 percent increase over this year's $6,680 level. Yale has an undergraduate enrollment of about 5,200 students.
Yale will continue its commitment to a "need blind" admissions policy, under which undergraduate students are admitted without regard to financial means, and to a policy of meeting the full demonstrated financial need of all undergraduates.
The University expects to award a total of more than $34 million in undergraduate financial aid next year, including more than $29 million in scholarships that Yale funds itself. About 41 percent of this year's undergraduate students are receiving financial aid, with an average annual award of about $15,700. Yale has increased its financial aid budget by nearly 68 percent since 1990-91, an average annual increase of 7.66 percent.
"We have worked to keep the term bill increase as low as possible, even as we have worked to expand services and programs for Yale students," President Levin said. "This modest increase will preserve excellence in teaching, scholarship and research, and ensure a high quality of student life, keeping Yale highly competitive among the world's top educational institutions."
President Levin noted that term bill revenues will assist the University's efforts to add to its library holdings; establish high- speed computer connections to every student room; invest in major renovations of its athletic facilities and residential colleges; and help meet rising costs for health care benefits, student financial aid and competitive salaries for faculty and staff.
To encourage students to live in Yale residential colleges, the term bill features a minimal increase in room and board for the fourth consecutive year. "We believe the residential college experience adds immeasurably to the benefits of four years at Yale, and we want to encourage all students to take advantage of it by making Yale's room and board rates competitive with the local market," President Levin said.
Under the residential college system, Yale randomly assigns freshmen to one of 12 residential colleges, where they remain affiliated throughout their undergraduate years. In these small communities, students live, eat, socialize and pursue academic and extracurricular activities such as intramural sports. Each college has living quarters for a dean, who advises students on course selections, and for a master, who oversees the cultural and social life of the college. Masters also host small gatherings that enable students to talk with renowned politicians, artists and business leaders.