Norwich tuition on steady incline over the years

Fifty years ago, a stamp cost four cents, a gallon of milk was 49 cents, a gallon of gas 31 cents, and you could buy a house for around $17,000. Not to mention, college tuition cost between $300 and $3,300 a year, according to reducemycollegecosts.com.

Now, a stamp costs 42 cents and a gallon of gas costs around $3, and home prices are much higher. College tuition has also increased, and is still on the rise.

For the 2010-2011 school year, the cost to attend Norwich has risen to $41,719 for students in the corps and $40,089 for traditional students.

"It's not something I like to hear about, but it happens," said Meghan Kennedy, a 20-year-old sophomore political science major from Lowell, Mass. "It's not like Norwich is the only school that's doing it."

Students across the country are affected by the rising costs of higher education.

"I am working a lot of hours this summer and taking out loans to help cover some of the costs of going to college," Kennedy said.

"The increase in tuition is putting a strain on me and my parents," said Lauren Lebel, 19, a sophomore nursing major from St. Albans, Vt.

"If I live on campus next year, I am going to try and take out more loans," said April Byllaardt, a 20-year-old sophomore history major from Stormville, N.Y. "But, I came here because I got more aid than from the state schools in New York."

"I am not able to receive any federal aid, so the tuition increase that was not expected when I decided to come here is directly affecting my parents and myself," Lebel said.

Each year, according to NU President Richard Schneider, there is a process that determines how much a student will pay to attend Norwich.

The budget and finance committee recommends the tuition and budget increase to Schneider.

"There are two pieces to the budget," Schneider said. "One is the revenue, and most of the revenue comes from tuition. Then there is how we spend the money we get, in support of academics, athletics, heat, electricity and food."

"The second thing we look at is what our financial needs are and where do we see the expense budget growing," Schneider said. "We also look at our tax increases and our electric increases and we look at our contractors, like Sodexo and what they are telling us their increases are going to be."

 Another way Norwich determines  tuition is that each department makes a list of things it needs, and prioritizes them, according to Schneider.

"We've been trying to hold back tuition prices by only getting the (mandatory things)," Schneider said.

"So, if we look at the budget for next year, lets say we need $4 million more to do what we did this year because of increases on all those things, we then look at how much do we have to push the tuition and fees to collect that," Schneider said.

For the budget projections to work, the number of students expected to enroll has to be the number predicted, according to Schneider.

"We have to make the class," Schneider said. "We have to make it in two ways. We have to make the freshmen class and we have to make sure all of (the returning students) come back."

If some students don't return and are accounted for in the budget, the school will be missing money.   

"Let's say 50 kids don't show up, it's a lot of money," Schneider said. "I have a small reserve so I don't have to take money back (from students)."

Tuition increases are also tied to the increasing cost of living. Schneider has raised extra money to combat the bad economy.

"For moms and dads losing jobs, I raised an extra $300,000," Schneider said. "If your mom or dad loses their job, you're not leaving school."

"I'm trying to be sensitive to what's happening in the economy," Schneider said. "I know a lot of (students) are borrowing a lot of money."

"I think they do a good job," Kennedy said. "They gave me a family emergency fund scholarship last year and it was very helpful."

Tuition at Norwich is also subsidized by alumnis gift money.

"We do have generous alums. They raise about $7 million each year," Schneider said. "So, divide $7 million over about 2,000 of you."

The money given by the alums is split up by the number of students to lower the cost of tuition, according to Schneider.

According to Schneider, it costs a lot of money to give the programming that Norwich offers its students, but it is hard to compete with the price of state schools.

"It costs so much money to give high quality programming and good sports, coaches and teachers and keep (students) fed and warm," Schneider said. "We can't compete with public schools where the state just gives them buildings."

"I think we're underpriced for what we do for (students)," Schneider said. "We have more sports programs than any school our size and more nationally accredited programs than anyone in the country our size."

"There is not another school in America like us," Schneider said.

Many students have proposed the question of whether tuition increases are due to the building of South Hall and Doyle Hall.   

"Doyle Hall is all on gift money," Schneider said. "(Students') tuition doesn't pay for it. We borrowed the money to build South Hall, but the business plan shows that with the new students we're bringing, they pay the mortgage."

These new buildings do not affect the costs of tuition, but the utilities they use and extra workers they require do raise the tuition, according to Schneider.

"I think we're very competitive, and we're still below the national average (for tuition costs) for private higher education in New England," Schneider said.