At their Jan. 21 meeting, Princeton University's trustees adopted a
2007-08 operating budget that holds tuition at its current level but
raises undergraduate room and board rates for an overall fee increase
of 4.2 percent.
This is the first year since 1967-68 that the annual tuition rate has
not increased. The overall fee increase is well below last year's
overall increase of 4.9 percent and the previous year's increase of 5
percent.
The operating budget includes funding for a new child-care benefit for
faculty and staff, which is part of a larger effort to make Princeton a
more "family-friendly" environment. It also includes, among other
initiatives, increased funds for special salary adjustments for faculty
and staff, financial support for Ph.D. students who bear children,
provision of a winter break allowance for international undergraduates,
and 24-hour, seven-day-per-week onsite monitoring of the University's
computing systems.
Because of strong performance by the University's investments and
generous giving by alumni, the operating budget incorporates more
funding for new initiatives this year than in recent years. While
funding for several of these initiatives was recommended by the
Priorities Committee of the Council of the Princeton University
Community, others are supported by recently approved increases in the
University's endowment spending or by the phasing in of a planned
expansion of the undergraduate student body.
"The Priorities Committee is delighted that the University's financial
circumstances allowed the trustees to approve its recommendations for
addressing highest priority needs, and that other needs are being
addressed through the additional endowment spending and the growth of
the budget as a result of the increased size of the student body," said
Provost Christopher Eisgruber, who chairs the Priorities Committee. "We
also were pleased that these circumstances provided an opportunity for
the trustees to adopt more accurate charges for room and board while
holding tuition level for the coming year."
In adopting a 2007-08 operating budget of nearly $1.1 billion, the
trustees acted on a proposal from President Shirley M. Tilghman that
was based on the recommendations of the Priorities Committee. Composed
of faculty, students and staff, the committee has served for more than
three decades as the mechanism for recommending fiscal and programmatic
priorities.
"Like its predecessors, this year's committee considered the
University's tuition and fee package in light of the University's
commitment to the accessibility of higher education to all qualified
students," the committee stated in its report. It noted approvingly
that "over the past 10 years, the annual rate of increase to that
package has been at the bottom end of the University's peer group."
According to the College Board, tuition and fees rose 5.9 percent at
four-year private institutions and 6.3 percent at four-year public
institutions in 2006-07.
For 2007-08, tuition at Princeton will remain $33,000. Total fees for
undergraduates living on campus and electing full meal contracts will
increase from $42,200 to $43,980, while students who elect reduced meal
contracts will pay less.
The increases in room and board pricing are intended to reflect costs
more accurately. In recent years, these costs incorporated substantial
University subsidies, according to the Priorities Committee report. The
new board charges also reflect planned improvements in quality and
changes to the board plan structure.
The budget for Princeton's groundbreaking financial aid program will be
increased enough to cover all additional room and board charges for
students who qualify for aid. The University has significantly enhanced
its aid program in recent years in an effort to make a Princeton
education even more affordable, including replacing all required loans
with grants that do not need to be repaid. This year the average grant
for a freshman on financial aid is more than $30,000. Last fall the
trustees reduced the work requirement in financial aid packages,
resulting in a $500 grant increase for those with jobs in their awards.
These efforts have dramatically increased the economic diversity of
Princeton's student body. Of this year's freshman class, 55 percent, or
682 students, are on financial aid. That percentage matches the record
set by the class of 2009 and is a significant change from the class of
2001 -- the last class admitted before the enhancements to the aid
program -- when 38 percent of the freshmen were on aid.
Child care and other improvements
In making its programmatic recommendations, the Priorities Committee
noted that it operated under a much more favorable set of budgetary
conditions than committees of the past two years, due primarily to
increases in the University's endowment income spending that were
approved by the trustees in June and November 2006. The first change
was intended to "true up" the operating budget, providing permanent
funds for many continuing charges that had been supported through term
funds or capital reserves. The second change involved major investments
in capital items as well as in the operating budget in the critical
areas of undergraduate education, graduate education, faculty research
and alumni affairs.
"The trustees' allocations focused on core pedagogical and research
efforts of the University," the Priorities Committee said in its
report. "This focus allowed and encouraged the committee to pay
substantial attention to the University's staff and its administrative
support, both of which are critical to the University's mission but
received less direct support from the spending rule changes."
The key initiatives include:
• A child-care benefit intended to assist employees with
pre-kindergarten children whose family income does not exceed $130,000
and who do not have a non-working spouse or partner who can take on
primary responsibility for child care. "The benefit advances a major
priority of the University and of President Shirley Tilghman, who has
indicated her commitment to making Princeton a more 'family-friendly'
environment," the committee wrote.
The awards are based on household income, are portable and can be used
to pay for a wide range of possible arrangements, from in-home care to
licensed day care centers. The maximum award per year for one eligible
child is $5,000; an additional $1,000 grant per year is available for a
second eligible child.
The deadline to submit applications for the new program is May 1 for
the fiscal year beginning July 1. More information about the new
child-care benefit for faculty and staff is available on the Office of
Human Resources website.
A similar child-care assistance program for students is being funded by
the spending rule change. The deadline to submit applications for the
student program for the 2007-08 academic year is July 1. More
information is available on the Graduate School website.
• Financial support for Ph.D. students who give birth during their graduate study at Princeton.
This includes tuition, stipend and medical coverage through the student
health plan during a three-month suspension of academic work.
• An increase to the promotion and adjustment pools that are
used to cover the costs of employee promotions and reclassifications,
and to respond to salary offers from outside employers. This measure,
along with sustaining the size of last year's salary increase pools into the coming year,
is intended to recognize "the critical importance of competitive
compensation to attracting and retaining the very best faculty and
staff members," according to the committee.
• An annual grant for international students to help cover costs during the winter break.
• The addition of two staff members in the Office of Information
Technology Operations and Support Center to expand its service to
include onsite monitoring of the University's computing and network infrastructure 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Among other requests recommended by the Priorities Committee and
approved by the trustees were: funding for additional graduate student
instructional assistance; a new assistant dean of students to deal with
student discipline and crisis management; and a half-time office
assistant in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Center.
Continuing benefits from endowment, enrollment expansion
Throughout its report and in looking ahead, the committee noted several
areas that would continue to benefit from the increases in the
University's endowment income spending.
In November, for example, trustees approved measures that will provide
all juniors and seniors on financial aid with sufficient support to
allow them to cover the cost of an average membership contract at an
eating club. The changes also will support increased funding for
assistants in instruction in graduate-level courses, which will add to
the funding for instructional assistance approved through the
Priorities Committee. In addition, they will provide expanded social,
cultural, intellectual and civic engagement programming in the
residential colleges.
The committee pointed out in its report that a portion of the income
generated by additional tuition from the increased student body will be
used to expand academic and administrative support to meet the
additional demand generated by the larger number of incoming students.
One area identified in this year's Priorities Committee report for such
support was University Health Services.
As recommended by the Wythes Committee report in 2000, the University
is planning to increase the size of its enrolled undergraduate student
body by approximately 11 percent, from 4,700 to 5,200, by the 2012-13
academic year. The entering classes in fall 2007 and 2008 each are
expected to enroll about 1,260 -- some 30 students more than the
current freshman class.
The Priorities Committee report is available online in pdf format as well as from the Office of the Provost.