Hamilton, NY — At a March 17 meeting, ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ’s board of trustees approved a $108.4-million operating budget for the 2002-2003 fiscal year. The budget includes funds for several new and ongoing initiatives, such as hiring additional faculty, sustaining a strong financial aid program and supporting curricular innovation.
The trustees also set student charges (tuition, room and board and student activity fee) for the 2002-2003 academic year at $35,130, a 4.9 percent increase over 2001-2002. Representing a higher percentage increase than those of recent years, the charges reflect both ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ’s need to respond to current economic circumstances and its commitment to providing a diverse student body with the best possible educational experience.
Although ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ was among the few private colleges that avoided losses in their endowments last year, growth was extremely modest compared to the gains of the late 1990s. The university structured a zero-sum budget for the 2002-2003 fiscal year, continuing its long history of maintaining a lean administration while dedicating resources to the needs of students and faculty.
‘In this challenging economic environment, program enhancements can be more difficult for private colleges and universities to initiate,’ said David Hale, ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ’s financial vice president and treasurer. ‘Fortunately, ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ’s endowment will provide more than $21 million to operations ‘ a six percent increase over the current year. In addition, ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ continues to benefit from the very generous charitable gift and volunteer support it receives from so many dedicated alumni, parents and friends of the university. As a result, ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ is moving forward on many fronts.’
¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ will continue its program of need-based financial aid during the coming academic year, Hale said. Currently, more than 40 percent of ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ students receive financial aid. The average award is approximately $24,000, including an average of nearly $20,000 in direct grant aid from the university. ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ students graduate with the lowest average amount of debt among the U.S. News ‘top 25’ liberal arts colleges.
Hale also detailed an array of curricular and extracurricular initiatives:
Founded in 1819, ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ is a highly selective, residential, liberal arts college enrolling nearly 2,750 undergraduates. Situated on a rolling 515-acre campus in central New York State, ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ attracts motivated students with diverse backgrounds, interests and talents.
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