<p>Please know that the members of the Admission and Financial Aid Office do everything in their power to ensure that students are provided with financial aid packages that reflect the very best that Richmond is able to put together. We are one of less than 50 colleges/universities nationwide that is both need-blind (we do not assess whether your family can pay while making your admission decision) and guarantees to meet 100% of demonstrated need for domestic students (based on the FAFSA). Need-based aid packages are put together by our Fin Aid department and are based, in large part, on the FAFSA and your family's expected family contribution (EFC). Unfortunately, this is the process our government has provided institutions of higher education. </p>
<p>Richmond has a very limited pool of resources for international students. This upsets me and many of my colleagues; however, until the powers that be are able to allot additional resources this is not likely to change. </p>
<p>Please look to outside resources for additional aid. You might try fastweb.com or perhaps your parents employer Your guidance counselors are also great resources.</p>
<p>Otis,
There are many factors that go into calculating the total cost of attendance of a given university outside of just tuition. While tuition is oftentimes a large portion of your expected costs it is not the only measure by which to distinguish universities based on price. I would also encourage you to look at what a given institution has done with tuition dollars to improve their facilities or to bring about changes to campus that reflect students needs. I firmly believe that while Richmond underwent a substantial tuition adjustment a couple of years ago, our commitment to meeting students needs and improving campus facilities has never been stronger. </p>
<p>The Forbes ranking is not really accurate. The University of Richmond is not the second-most-expensive college in the country. Although we have repeatedly brought it to their attention, Forbes.com and other news media persist in using tuition as their basis for comparing costs, when they should be using cost of attendance. Tuition is defined in various ways from campus to campus. At Richmond, it is a comprehensive fee covering virtually all fees except room and board. Elsewhere, it is one of many charges that must be totaled to accurately determine the cost of going to College XXX for a year. When cost of attendance is compared, Richmond isnt even in the top 50. That isnt to say attending Richmond is inexpensive, but the university believes it is charging what it must in order to provide the high quality instruction and facilities it has traditionally offered.</p>
<p>Decision letters should be in your hand by April 1. With variations within the postal system, we can't guarantee that everyone will receive their letters on the same day. Keep an eye on your mailbox… Best wishes!</p>
<p>In your above post you stated "When cost of attendance is compared, Richmond isnt even in the top 50".</p>
<p>Please provide a citation that identifies the cost of attendance for the most expensive 50 schools and where Richmond compares to those schools.</p>
<p>Thanks. </p>
<p>p.s. My family will be begin paying tuition to the University of Richmond in August 2008.</p>
<p>Kiplinger's recently named UR as the 22nd best value in private education. When you sort the list for "cost after non-need based aid," UR is the 32nd most expensive. There also seems to be 5 public universities that are more expensive for out of state students after aid, so UR would be 37th on this list of 150 schools, so I don't think it's out of the question that UR isn't one of the top 50 most expensive schools for total 'cost of attendance.' </p>
<p>Also, the average debt that UR grads have at graduation ranks 13th on this chart (we have the 13th least amount of debt at graduation out of the 50 private schools listed).</p>
<p>Remember though, that you shouldn't eliminate a school based on the top line cost. The only cost that should matter at the end of the day is the bottom line cost after aid and scholarships. When you look at the bottom line cost, UR hopefully will be competitive with a lot of schools.</p>
<p>Below is a post I entered on this site on March 5th calling attention to the Kiplinger's designation of the University of Richmond as the #22d "Best Value" among private colleges in the United States. </p>
<p>I have pasted the March 5th post below because it contains links to the Kiplinger's site and identifies the schools that are ranked ahead and behind UR in the Kiplinger's listing.</p>
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<p>Kiplinger's Names URichmond #22 "Best Value" Private College </p>
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<p>The April 2008 edition of Kiplinger's Personal Finance ranked the University of Richmond as the #22d "Best Value" among private colleges in the United States. </p>
<p>Please note that Kiplinger's ranked URichmond among the seemingly more competitive large Universities and not as a Liberal Arts College. </p>
<p>Kiplinger's top schools in Richmond's category were as follows: 1. Cal Tech, 2. Yale, 3. Princeton, 4. M.I.T., 5. Rice, 6. Harvard, 7. Dartmouth, 8. Puke, 9. Emory, 10. UPenn, 11. Brown University, 12. UNotre Dame, 13. Stanford, 14. Vandy, 15. Columbia, 16. Georgetown, 17. Northwestern, 18. Brandeis U., 19. Tufts, 20 Cornell, 21. Boston College, 22. UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, 23. Johns Hopkins, 24. Wake Forest, 25. Elon,....32. Villanova University,... 43. Syracuse University....47. George Washington University, 48. Boston University, 49. NYU, 50. RPI.</p>
<p>Otis, we're working on that chart for you. Our last version is a couple of years old so we're updating it. The key frustration we have with Forbes is calling us the 2nd most expensive based only on tuition. There are lots of schools that nickel and dime you to death after you pay tuition. Lots of mandatory fees for all kinds of things. At many public universities, when they are prohibited from raising tuition by their state legislatures, they just make up that revenue by adding fees or increasing room and board charges. We just put the whole ball of wax into the "tuition, room and board". Only if you bring a car will you pay additional fees, and that's just $90/year. But you won't find a student activity fee, and student i.d. fee, a recreation fee, etc, etc, etc. </p>
<p>No one here denies that Richmond is expensive. But when you compare apples to apples, we are NOT the second most expensive in the nation, even when you don't subtract the typical aid packages since there are families who don't get any aid. </p>
<p>As just an example I notice in kelliebm's post (#38) the mention that Villanova's over $50K this year. Richmond is NOT, but Forbes has George Washington ahead of UR and I don't think V'nova is on that Forbes list. So their charges are in other parts of their bill besides tuition. It's just important that buyer's beware and understand what the costs really amount to. </p>
<p>It is expensive to attend both schools. Each year many students have to "turn down" UR simply because they cannot afford. Im lucky that my parant have the fund for my education.</p>