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Students left aggravated by situation
Written by: Brian Lofrumento
Last week Bentley students received an e-mail from Kathleen Yorkis, Vice President of Student Affairs, with a copy of a letter sent to all families in March.
The letter announced that Bentley’s tuition is increasing once again, this time by 3.5 percent. The rise brings Bentley’s undergraduate tuition bill to $35,580.
In addition to the tuition increase, students living on campus will also see room and board costs climb by the same percentage, taking effect for the upcoming fall semester. Meanwhile, the technology fee remains unchanged for next year, which gives students at least some relief. Similarly, President Larson stressed in the letter that the increase is the lowest increase in over a decade, indicating that Bentley understands the rough economic climate that families are facing.
The letter cited rising costs as the reason for the necessary increase. “The decision about this increase was made with careful and mindful deliberation, and with the understanding that many of our families continue to face the real and difficult impacts of the global economic crisis,” said President Larson. “We budgeted the lowest increase necessary to fund the range of services we deliver to our students and meet continually rising costs.”
While many students are disgruntled about yet another increase, Bentley administrators point to the university’s impressive job placement statistics and reputation as justification. “As always, we maintain our commitment to deliver the highest quality education with a solid return on your investment,” Larson noted.
“Evidencing the value of a Bentley education, our survey of 2009 graduates six months after graduation revealed that 81 percent were employed and another 17 percent were planning to attend graduate school – a 98 percent placement rate!” said Larson. “We’re also thrilled to have been recently recognized in Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s 2010 rankings of undergraduate business programs as one of the top 25 programs in the country,” concluded Larson.
Students have already expressed their unhappiness at the tuition hike, and many feel that the 3.5 percent hike is still too high. “It is almost criminal to raise tuition at such alarming rates every year, specifically now when so many of our parents are out of work,” said Christina Harstad, a junior. “Every year I keep paying more, but I have not received higher quality education or services. I have seen no improvements to my living spaces at Bentley to justify paying 3.5 percent more for the exact same rooms and meal plans. These tuition hikes outpace inflation,” she continued.
As a result of the continuing increases in tuition, Harstad pointed out that students are going to make their own adjustments. “I will graduate a semester early in order to save money,” said Harstad. “If I knew my family would be in the financial situation it was in today, I would have attended a public university.”
Harstad concluded, “As a school of future financial leaders, Bentley should be teaching us how to cut costs and use our budgets wisely, not demanding that cash-strapped families dole out more and more money every year.”
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