The rising hidden costs of an education at Tufts

This year, the total cost of attendance at Tufts was estimated to be $73,500. Tufts University students, student organizations and administrators have spent a large amount of time recently discussing the important issue of tuition and fee hikes; however, there has been very little conversation about  financial accessibility once students arrive on campus. Last semester, the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate’s Education Committee conducted a survey of students on the financial costs of the classroom, including the prices of textbooks, online homework codes and other issues students face. The survey was posted on class facebook pages and received a large response sample size of 378. Our goal is to spur a conversation about financial issues at Tufts that extend beyond the price of tuition and include hidden fees associated with attending an institution of higher education.

Students have been combating the rising prices of textbooks by renting, buying used and finding free versions of their in-class texts. Despite savvy attempts to decrease costs, the practice of making the purchase of online access codes mandatory places a significant financial burden on students who are unable to afford an additional cost that can be upwards of $150. Digital access codes are unique and cannot be resold or rented like real textbooks. For many classes, codes are necessary to complete assignments, take quizzes and thus receive a grade. Additionally, access codes undercut the efforts of certain measures meant to reduce textbook costs, like the TCU Senate Textbook Exchange and the Office of Student Success and Advising Lending Library. This raises numerous concerns regarding the financial accessibility of higher education and is one of the motivating factors behind this survey.

Other in-classroom costs, like the ever-rising prices of textbooks, art supplies, printing and extra credit opportunities that students have to pay for place additional financial burdens on students even on top of tuition. These costs can also be sporadic and difficult to estimate, an instability which further complicates and burdens students’ financial situations.

As people that takes pride in fostering a diverse and inclusive community, we must critically evaluate practices and actively be engaged in an ongoing conversation about financial accessibility. We hope that these data illuminate concerns that students have and help to create conversations about practices that are beneficial to everyone. Additionally, we hope to encourage a long-term dialogue about financial accessibility of higher education, especially within the classroom, and the importance of helping reduce such burdens to students.

The full length survey report, which was presented to the Executive Faculty Committee, can be found here.

Signed,

Ayden Crosby, Shannon Lee, Jacqueline Chen, Adam Rapfogel, Iyra Chandra, Amrutha Chintalapudi, Klavs Takhtani, Deepen Goradia, Alex Lein