<p>Do some colleges freeze tuition at the amount applicable when the student first begins for all four (or so) years or are we always stuck with unpredictable increases?</p>
<p>The University of Kansas has a four year tuition compact for basic tuition.</p>
<p>I know George Washington University does. And somebody told me that U Colorado Boulder does.</p>
<p>All state schools in Illinois freeze tuition at the rate applicable when the student started at the school. Western Illinois University also freezes room and board.</p>
<p>Harvard will do that provided you pay in advance. You can get the freshman rate for all four years if you are willing to pay for all four years in the first year.</p>
<p>If you are paying one year at a time as you go, you will suffer the rate increases.</p>
<p>While it seems that some schools freeze tuition, it seems that many do not.</p>
<p>Hiram College</p>
<p>For Harvard - and any others where you could pay in advance - the interest on a loan would probably less than the amount of the increase. If your student transferred, hopefully, they would return the pre-payment.</p>
<p>^^Harvard usually increases its tuition about 6 or 7% per year. I was tempted to take this deal when my daughter was there, but they weren’t entirely clear about getting the money back if your kid left the school. So with that amount of money at stake, I felt better with it sitting in my bank account than in Harvard’s.</p>
<p>I believe Tufts does (or did) the pay upfront thing as well.</p>
<p>Niagara also offers a level tuition plan for all four years:
The Level Tuition Plan (LTP) allows students to “lock in” on one tuition rate for four years. The LTP is open to new, first-time, full-time, undergraduate freshmen. This is an optional plan. Under LTP, students will pay a slightly higher rate of tuition for the first year, but will be guaranteed that same rate for the remaining three years. (The slightly higher rate for this year’s incoming class was $1300 over the regular tuition rate).</p>
<p>U Rochester also.</p>
<p>[Pre-Paid</a> Tuition Plans:: Office of the Bursar :: University of Rochester](<a href=“http://www.rochester.edu/adminfinance/bursar/prepaid.htm]Pre-Paid”>http://www.rochester.edu/adminfinance/bursar/prepaid.htm)</p>
<p>Dartmouth also, if you pay for all four years up front.</p>
<p>Same with Middlebury - if you pay all four years up front. There was definitely the option of reimbursement if you left/transferred, but … ouch.</p>
<p>Northern Arizona does…</p>
<p>Syracuse does only if you are not receiving any FA or scholarship $$; you pay four years tuition up front based on freshman year rate</p>
<p>An interesting side note on public universities and state systems that do this. The schools are punished financially for retaining their students through graduation and rewarded financially for running their students off and replacing them with new students paying the current, unfrozen rate.</p>
<p>
That’s interesting … what happens if your student pulls out of school? Do you get your bucks back? I doubt I would go for the deal … freezing fees is great … losing gains for the years is not so great … this deal is good or bad depending on the market.</p>
<p>George Washington does this and they do it if you recieve a Presidential Scholarship as well. I don’t know how any other kind of merit or financial aid would factor in.</p>
<p>Thanks for linking to the University of Rochester’s plan. A couple interesting things- if you pre-pay, you have to pre-pay the whole thing without subtracting any merit aid you may be fortunate enough to win. If the student does have merit aid, the U of R applies the rest to room and board. If there is still some left over, they will eventually issue a refund. Secondly, if the student leaves, they will refund the money without interest.</p>