By Lauren Nelson
Staff Writer
Each year students dread hearing what the next year’s tuition cost will be. Fall’s freshman will be the first year of a tuition promise that will directed for primarily for the incoming freshmen class.
The tuition for next year’s freshmen class will stay the same at $26,872 all four years that they are at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. While this does mean that they are paying a little more than other classes their freshman year, their rate will not increase for the following years.
The tuition promise simply allows the student to know how much money they are going to have to pay all four years at SMWC.
Darla Hooper, director of Financial Aid, she explained that the amount of money the school has to offer for scholarships has not changed and will not be affected by the tuition promise.
Many students want to know why each year when the tuition increases their scholarships don’t increase too, explaining that with the tuition increase it makes it much harder for them to afford to stay at SMWC. SMWC’s new President Dottie King was able to recognize this and had taken action to help the financial situations that college costs put on a family.
“I had the idea of the tuition promise when I thought about the challenges of students and their parents to plan for tuition payments,” King said. “It is my hope that the promise will attract new students to the Woods and will also increase the retention of current students.”
The current freshmen and sophomores are those that would possibly be eligible for the change over to the tuition promise as well as each new class that comes into SMWC.
“We would, on a ‘case-by-case’ basis, be willing to figure out whether a guaranteed tuition would benefit current students,” King said. “Because the guaranteed amount is higher than the tuition that is approved for next year, most current students would not be interested.”
Admissions officials have noticed that tuition cost has occasionally been the reason that prespective students find other schools that offer similar programs.
“We are hoping that the tuition promise will attract more students to consider attending the Woods without students having to make a decision solely based on finances,” said Art Criss, vice president for enrollment management. “The tuition promise could have a significant impact on both enrollment and retention. Students will now have the ability to know how much they need for their education which will help families to financially plan.”
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