Chicago Increases Financial Aid by 15%

<p>University</a> of Chicago Hikes Tuition 4%, to $55,416</p>

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The University of Chicago Monday announced that tuition for the upcoming school year will go up by 4.1 percent, bringing the total cost of undergraduate education for the 2011-12 school year to $55,416; of that amount, tuition is $41,853, and the remaining $13,563 is for room, board and fees, according to a release from the school.

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The university will increase by approximately 15 percent its financial aid budget for undergraduates, the release said.

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<p>So tuition increased 4.1%, while financial aid increased 15%.</p>

<p>noooooooooo . . . misst by a single year!</p>

<p>No complaints here about son’s fin aid experience. Convocation 2011 here we come.</p>

<p>Maybe my math is a bit rusty but if they gave out 76MM in aid last year and are giving out 88MM this year, that is 12MM more.</p>

<p>But they are increasing costs by 4% or going up to 55K from 53K or 2K.</p>

<p>There are 5,000 undergraduates on campus, meaning the expect to raise 10MM in additional costs (5,0000 students x 2K increase).</p>

<p>Why not just apply the 12MM in extra financial aid to all undergraduates and not increase the tuition at all ? And still have an extra 2MM ?</p>

<p>What am I missing here ?</p>

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<p>Well, one reason would be that increased nominal cost of tuition allows the University to charge the highest bracket of students, those who would have received no financial aid anyways, more, while maintaining even or lowering actual prices for students on financial aid. Price discrimination, yes?</p>

<p>It’s a socialist model that the other schools have been using for years. Chicago’s just now picking it up. If your tuition is super-high and there are people to pay for it, why not keep it super-high or boost it even higher, while maintaining and increasing financial aid to those who have trouble financing a Chicago education (especially the middle class, since the lower class is already taken care of)?</p>

<p>It sounds great to me, especially with the amount of extremely rich kids here.</p>