Rising technology costs have caused Tufts' tuition to grow at a fast pace in recent years, but studies show that the University's price tag is not increasing as quickly as many comparable schools. The current price of a Tufts education is $33,394.
One of the ways in which Tufts evaluates its tuition increases is by tracking 20 similar schools, such as Dartmouth College, Brown University, Boston University, and Duke University. Tufts' tuition increases are generally a half-percent to a full point below the average. Last year, for instance, Tufts' tuition rose 3.9 percent, while the average among these 20 schools was 4.3 percent. The highest increase was 9.3 percent, while the lowest was three percent.
Over the past few years, Tufts' tuition has risen ahead of inflation, in part because of sky-rocketing operation costs. "Things like Information Technology costs increase... often times technology costs are not just increasing with inflation but are totally new costs," said Executive Administrative Dean Wayne Bouchard.
"We've been increasing financial aid significantly over the past few decades. The cost of maintaining facilities has risen within this area. Every time we renovate a dorm, we are paying very high construction rates compared to the rest of the country."
Tufts' finances are a source of constant concern for administrators, especially in light of the University's small endowment, poor alumni giving, and reduced resources overall, according to Bouchard.
"Those are areas we would like to see grow," Bouchard said. But, he says that Tufts is frugal with its limited funds, which allows it to do more with less. "We've had to work smarter, and we don't waste money in the way other institutions might. We are very well managed," he said.
The majority of the $203 million Arts and Sciences budget comes from tuition revenues, with another $21 million supplied by tightly restricted research grants from outside sources, $5.5 million from the University's endowment, and $4 million from the Tufts Fund - a monetary source the University maintains to keep tuition increases to a minimum.
Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine rated Tufts the 51st best value in private education, though the information used to calculate the University's worth was somewhat outdated. Even so, administrators give weight to the rankings when considering how Tufts stacks up to other schools.
"Over the years, we've had to pay more attention, because there's always value in some of this information, in just knowing what the public thinks about your institution. We don't focus too much on those rankings, but we don't ignore them either," Bouchard said.
The Budget and Priorities Committee, comprised of faculty, administration, and students, reviews all budget requests and works to fit them into the projected amount of available funds for the upcoming years. Factors such as inflation, financial aid efforts, energy costs, currency exchange rates for programs abroad, and projected incomes are all considered.
This review takes place during the Fall, while deans work within the Policy Council to make similar decisions. The information is consolidated by late Fall, and a set of budget recommendations is created. At the February trustee meeting, the trustees choose whether or not to endorse the recommendations, and an official vote takes place at the May meeting.
The trustees typically challenge the increases in recommendations, according to Bouchard, but it is rare for the group not to endorse them.
"We recognize that we can't simply increase enrollment to meet the costs. We set a tuition that meets what our expectation is, but also based on what we think is a family's ability to pay," Bouchard said. "We're expensive, but we spend a huge amount of time doing whatever possible to keep those increases to a minimum."
Although pleased with the progress Tufts has made thus far, Bouchard said the University could improve its program vastly if it had more resources. "There's always more you can do. You can never have enough money. We already have a very high quality academic experience; I don't feel we've scrimped on that."
