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George Washington
University, the largest institution of higher education
in the nation's capitol, announced recently a five-year
plan to address affordability and cost for its
undergraduates. The move comes on the heels of recent
announcements from other universities announcing similar
plans, such as
Harvard, Yale,
Dartmouth,
Cornell and
Northwestern.
Central to the plan is the
university's commitment to moderate tuition increases,
improve fund-raising efforts for student aid, provide
additional funding for institutional grants to incoming
freshmen, lower the average student debt burden upon
graduation, and continue its fixed-tuition/guaranteed
financial aid program.
GW's fixed-tuition/guaranteed financial aid program, in
place since 2004, locks in the undergraduate tuition
rate for up to five years. As a result, returning
sophomores, juniors, seniors, and fifth year
undergraduates will see no tuition increase in the
2008-2009 academic year. Tuition for freshmen entering
in fall 2008 will increase 3 percent, which reflects the
current rate of inflation. This price ($40,392) also
will be locked in for up to five years under the
fixed-tuition program.
In conjunction with fixed tuition, the university will
continue its guarantee that need- and merit-based
institutional financial assistance will remain at least
at the levels awarded at the time of the student's
initial enrollment. If further need is demonstrated, the
amount of aid could go up but it will not go down.
GW will provide $118 million in institutional financial
assistance for undergraduates in 2008-2009. This amount
includes a $6 million increase in institutional grants
for incoming freshman. The university also offers 50
percent tuition discounts for siblings.
Another element of the plan is the university's goal to
quadruple fund raising for student aid from $10 million
to $40 million annually within five years.
The university will reduce the cost of housing on 1,000
beds by approximately 19 percent this fall as a
suggested option for incoming students demonstrating
financial need. Depending on housing selections, overall
costs (tuition, fees, housing, and food) for incoming
students will range from a decrease of 0.6 percent from
the current figure to an increase of 2.8 percent, the
lowest increase in recent university history.
The plan also will reduce by more than 30 percent the
average debt burden at the time of graduation (from
$29,000 to $20,000 on average) for incoming freshmen
demonstrating need. This goal will be accomplished, in
part, by increasing the caps on the amount of
institutional grant aid incoming students receive to up
to the full amount of tuition for qualified students and
by eliminating the requirement that parents fund $2,000
above the expected family contribution.
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