Tuition Rate Soars For Third Consecutive Year

by Kevin Cyrulnik

This past spring Yeshiva’s Board of Trustees quietly sent undergraduate tuition rates soaring yet again.  This year’s 10% boost, effective Fall 2002, marks the largest single tuition increase in Yeshiva history and the third consecutive year that the Board has dramatically increased tuition rates.  

Students were shocked to learn that tuition has surged more than 28% over the past three years.  “Granted that tuition must increase over the course of time at any good university,” said Sy Syms senior Brian Schlusselberg.  “But to see it change so dramatically in such a short period of time is simply unbelievable.”

According to Yeshiva Student Union Vice President Yaakov Green, “It seems ridiculous that these increases are really necessary.  If they really need to be done, then why don’t they include students in the matter?  If they showed us where our money is going, we might be a little less angrier than we are now, left in the dark as usual,” he stated. 

Responding to student criticism, Yeshiva’s Director of Enrollment Management Dr. John Fisher cited the oft-heard disparity between Yeshiva’s rates and those of other comparable institutions.  “Several years ago, we realized that we were way under where we needed to be financially,” he explained.

Fisher also mentioned that Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Morton Lowengrub has attempted to improve academic programming and secure the best faculty around.  However, this could not be accomplished while Yeshiva was charging significantly less than other similar institutions.  Thus, the Board decided that Yeshiva would gradually raise tuition in order to secure the funds needed for Lowengrub’s mission.

Elaborating on the criteria for tution raises, Fisher revealed the three main categories he consults before finalizing a suggestion to be submitted to the Board.  The first, and apparently most important, category deals with relative comparisons.  Because Fisher ranks Yeshiva somewhere between Touro College and Harvard University, he figures that tuition figures should fall somewhere between the two.  For the upcoming year, Touro’s base tuition, which excludes room and board, is $9,950.  Harvard, on the other hand, is currently charging $25,050.  “So, in Fisher’s estimation,” one student leader stated, “Yeshiva, because of its relatively high-price tag of $20,500 a year, must figure in considerably closer to Harvard than it does to Touro.  I guess that means that our facilities, student body, and course offerings also compare,” he scoffed. 

The second determining factor for Yeshiva’s tuition figures relates to its unique student body.  According to Fisher, in the orthodox community, it is very common to see many children of the same family concurrently attending Yeshiva.   Thus, “we understand that these families have less money to give to Yeshiva,” he explained.  With that in mind, Yeshiva attempts to accommodate threir situation by not charging somewhat less than that of comparable schools such as Brandeis  Fisher said.   

The third crucial issue is the direct correlation between a university’s endowment and tuition costs.  Normally, logic dictates that if the endowment increases, tuition rates should remain relatively stable.  This is where Yeshiva’s recent decision to raise tuition comes into question.  This year, Yeshiva University and New York University are the only two schools to see their endowments climb.  NYU, which has significantly increased tuition over the last three years, has decided to halt that escalation, leaving last year’s figures intact.  Yeshiva, however, has not only increased tuition despite an endowment surge, but has made its most extraordinary increase ever.

Fisher attempted to account for this obvious discrepancy by maintaining that regardless of other university’s mentalities, he does not see an endowment at all related to tuition.  “Tuition is set based on positioning with other schools,” proclaimed Fisher.  “Financial aid is set based on what is available at the time…we help students by increasing aid and not lowering tuition,” he justified.

Taken all together, this year’s incoming students are paying $27,530 as compared with last year’s students who payed $24, 930.  As in the past, Yeshiva has abided by its precedent to increase current students’ rates less sharply.  This year, returning students will pay slightly more than 5%.

What worries students most is the uncertainty of future years at Yeshiva University.  “If they have raised base tuition from $14,000 to $20,000 in just four years, what does that say about what they might do over the next three years?” wondered Yeshiva College junior Josh Erez uncertainly.

Fisher admits that this overall increase was planned for several years, but, attempting to allay student fears, says that from this point on, “we will take it one year at a time.  We are currently not where we need to be in relation to peer institutions, but we will not make a decision [of whether to increase tuition again] until a later point in time,” he said.