Gallaudet holds the line on tuition despite national trend toward sharp increases

Despite a trend toward sharp tuition increases this year among U.S. colleges and universities, Gallaudet will, for the second consecutive year, maintain its current tuition and fees for academic year 2010-1011.

The decision not to increase tuition was announced by the Board of Trustees at its October 15 meeting on campus, and it is welcome news for Gallaudet students, particularly during this time of economic uncertainty.

“Gallaudet cares deeply about its students and cares about making an education at the University affordable for them,” said Board of Trustees Chair Benjamin Soukup. He added that the trustees’ action falls in line with the objectives of Gallaudet’s new Long Range Strategic Plan. “The plan calls for delivering our services in a more cost-effective manner and not passing along additional costs to our students,” said Soukup.

“Our students will be paying the same amount for tuition in 2010-2011 as they paid in 2008-2009–two years of holding the line on what we charge students during difficult economic times,” said Dr. David Armstrong, Executive Director of the Gallaudet University Press and External Affairs. “Even though our tuition is relatively low, at $10,850 a year for a full-time undergraduate student, we are very much going against the general trend in U.S. higher education where the average increase is about 5 percent this year.”

The news of climbing tuition rates across the nation comes from the College Board’s annual report, “Trends in College Pricing,” that was released on October 20. The figures from the report don’t address related fees such as room and board.

The global recession is largely to blame for pushing up students’ costs for attending college, since many colleges are facing dwindling endowments due to investment losses and publicly-funded schools are seeing declining higher education appropriations from states. Gallaudet faces some of these economic forces as well, but its board has made the decision to cope with them without putting further stress on students and their families, who are facing similar economic challenges.