The budget calls for a 10.1 percent increase in University-funded scholarships ($53.2 million compared to $48.4 million last year).

University President Lawrence Biondi, SJ, said the increase in funding for scholarships demonstrates the University's commitment to rewarding academic excellence in keeping with its Catholic, Jesuit values. It also ensures that a Saint Louis University education is affordable for all qualified students.

During the 1998-99 academic year, approximately 8,456 students received scholarship/financial aid. The average financial assistance package offered, including monies from all sources, was $14,096 per student: $13,818 per undergraduate, $12,255 per graduate student and $17,088 per professional student.

"Academic excellence requires significant resources," Biondi said. "As a major research institution, Saint Louis University is challenged to strategically direct its resources to assure excellence in teaching, research and service and to assure that our students receive a first-rate education.

"Many students and parents do not realize that their tuition dollars do not cover the real cost of providing a SLU education," Biondi said. "For example, last year tuition paid by our students and their parents covered only two-thirds of the actual cost. The difference was made up by our endowment and the generous support of the University's alumni, benefactors and friends."

Improvements in both infrastructure and academics at Saint Louis University continue to draw higher-caliber students. During the past spring and summer, the University invested more than $13 million in upgrades to academic buildings, residence halls and recreational facilities. The academic profile (as measured by ACT composite score and high school grade point average) for the 1998-99 freshman class improved, continuing a 10-year trend.

"The fiscal year 2000 budget will support major academic initiatives, including a full-time MBA program, a master's degree in geology and an increase in the number of graduate student assistantships," said Sandra Johnson, interim University provost. "The budget also will enhance the undergraduate program in biomedical engineering, the doctoral program in health care ethics and programs in urban planning and communication sciences and disorders."

The budget includes an average increase of 6.1 percent for undergraduate tuition, room and board. Annual tuition for full-time undergraduate students will be $17,230, an increase from $16,100; $20,130 for full-time law students, an increase from $19,170; and $29,930 for medical students, an increase from $28,500. Tuition for graduate students will be $570 per credit hour, an increase from $542.

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