Junior Rileigh Elliott, gender and women studies and geography double-major, from Centennial, Colo., says that she has a lot of peers who pay for their own tuition and that the rising cost of attendance has proven to be an on-going battle, especially for those students in charge of paying their own way through school.

“I know that an increase like that would make things a lot harder for those people,” said Elliott.

While the highest tuition rate increase in DU’s history was 33.3 percent in 1964, Kvistad says the university is adding a total $7.35 million in institutional financial aid to offset next year’s 3.44 percent increase.
The Provost offered an alternative perspective of viewing the situation, however, which is for students to compare the net price in fiscal year 2009 to that of 2012 (latest data available) for a first-time, first-year student to attend DU.

“After institutional grant aid is factored in, which increased each year as the tuition charge increased, the actual average price to attend the university only increased on average by $44 per year over those three years,” said Kvistad.

Kvistad also reflected on the merit of the DU Board of Trustees being the governing body of the institution who makes this important decision year after year, attesting to the fact that many of them are DU alumni.
“DU’s trustees are extraordinarily devoted and generous with their time and resources,” said Kvistad. “When they become trustees, they very quickly learn a great deal about the sector of U.S. higher education generally—which is a pretty complicated issue these days—and about DU in particular. They are the university’s fiduciaries, and they take that role very seriously.”

For any inquiries pertaining to the recent decision, please contact the Office of the Provost.