IN THIS ISSUE:
REGULAR FEATURES:
The Saint Louis University board of trustees has approved the University's budget for 1998-99 and has voted to continue a decades-old tradition of maintaining a balanced budget.
The budget calls for a 17 percent increase in University-funded scholarships, $48.4 million compared with $41.5 million last year. University-funded Vision Scholarships (undergraduate scholarships awarded based on academic excellence and financial need) will increase 27 percent, to $12.1 million from $9.5 million in 1997-98.
During 1997-98, approximately 8,067 Saint Louis University students received scholarships/financial aid. The average assistance package offered, including money from all sources, was $14,326 per student: $13,955 per undergraduate, $12,972 per graduate student and $17,167 per professional student (excluding the School of Medicine).
"The budget is based on a comprehensive and collaborative process," said University President Lawrence Biondi, SJ. "It is a process that takes months of careful research and discernment, one that involves everyone from vice presidents, deans and faculty to students and ultimately the board of trustees.
"When we put our budget together, we look not only at important academic needs, but also the needs to improve even further many vital areas, including student life, classrooms and laboratories and other important projects that benefit our students."
"We are committed to becoming the finest Catholic university in America," said Dr. Richard Breslin, executive vice president and provost. "A vital part of that commitment is to hire the best teachers and researchers, a costly but important investment.
"We want to hold our tuition down in a reasonable fashion, but we must have the classrooms and laboratories we want, with the latest technologies. The costs are high, but the benefits are substantial, and our students demand, and deserve, the best.
"Many students and parents are unaware that the cost they pay for tuition is far less than the cost of actually providing the education," Breslin continued. "Last year, for example, tuition paid by students and their parents, net of SLU-funded assistance, was approximately only two-thirds of the education's cost. The difference was made up by our endowment and generous financial gifts to the University."
Improvements in both infrastructure and academics at the University continue to help draw higher-caliber students. In fact, the average ACT composite score for this year's freshman class is 25.7, 4.7 points above the national average and the highest ever at the University. The 1997-98 freshman class also is the largest at the University in nine years.
In response to requests from parents and students, several fees that previously were charged in addition to tuition and room, now paid for separately, will be billed as part of tuition and room. These fees equal $292 per year for students living in University housing, and include the $110 registration fee, the $12 housing activity fee that is used by students to fund hall-sponsored purchases and activities, and the $170 communications fee that provides residents with access to phone, cable TV and ethernet service.
The new budget calls for an average increase for room, board and undergraduate tuition of 6.3 percent, the lowest increase since 1987. Saint Louis University's tuition rate ranks 15th of the nation's 28 Jesuit colleges and universities.
A breakdown of the 1998-99 University tuition and fees is as follows:
- Tuition and fees for graduate students will be $542 per credit hour, an increase from $525.
- Annual tuition and fees for undergraduate students will be $16,100, an increase from $15,050.
- Annual tuition and fees for the School of Law will be $19,170, an increase from $18,260.
- Annual tuition for medical school students will be $28,500, an increase from $27,140.