PROVIDENCE – After a year in which Brown University had the lowest tuition increase in a decade, students and families attending the Ivy League institution will see their tuition bills for next year go up by a rate not seen in about 12 years.
The Corporation of Brown University on Feb. 11 approved a 4.75% tuition increase for undergraduate and most doctoral and master’s degree programs for the 2023-24 academic year. Additionally, tuition for Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School will increase by 3% next academic year.
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The tuition hike for next year marks the highest Brown has implemented since the 3.9% increase it had for the 2011 fiscal year. Over the past decade, Brown’s annual tuition increases have been around 2.9%.
Brown said its University Resources Committee recommended the increases based on its financial analysis, which included reviewing trends and considering a major expansion in financial aid initiatives that the university put forth in recent years. Ultimately, a major factor for the increases was inflation Brown said, saying there has been a 5.2% jump in expenses incurred by colleges and universities across the country in the last fiscal year. Such an increase has not been seen since 2001, Brown said.
Larry Larson, Brown’s interim provost who chairs the resources committee, says the funds from the tuition are “instrumental” in the university sustaining investments in research, teaching, student support, financial aid and other university priorities.
“A year ago, our tuition increase matched the lowest in many years as we built on exceptional endowment performance and recognized the economic impact that COVID-19 continued to have on families,” Larson said in a statement. “With the external financial landscape shifting, the approved 2023-24 increase will provide a significant boost in revenue to support research, teaching and strategic initiatives, while positioning us to expand on our commitment to attracting and supporting students from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds.”
By the numbers, Brown’s undergraduate tuition next year will be $65,656, up from $62,680 from the 2021-22 academic year. For graduate students, it will cost $8,207 per course next year for most doctoral and on-campus master’s degree programs, Brown said. The university said given a shift in 2018 to “market-based pricing” for some master’s degrees, about a dozen of Brown’s 33 master’s programs have tuition rates “that vary from the standard.” Brown says tuition for most programs next year will rise by 3.5% with a cost for “a small number” of programs remaining level as 2022-23 academic year’s tuition.
Tuition for the medical school next year will be $69,286, Brown says.
The tuition increases will also be coupled with a large $17 million annual increase in its financial aid budget, a 9% year-to-year jump, Brown said.
Also, a 4% employee salary increase was approved by the corporation, Brown said. The increases, Brown said, were considered based on factors ranging from recruitment and retention trends, labor markets impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, employment opportunities for remote and hybrid work and inflation.
Other rates and fees for next year that were approved by the corporation over the weekend were:
- Standard room rate: $9,650
- Standard board: $6,948
- Undergraduate student resources fee: $1,004
- Health services fee: $1,090
- Student activities fee: $300
- Student recreation fee: $80
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
