NEWS RELEASE

2/5/02

Trustees set tuition, room and board rates for 2002-2003

The Board of Trustees on Tuesday set rates for undergraduate tuition, room and board for 2002-2003 that reflect a 4.9 percent increase over the current year's rates.

The undergraduate tuition rate was set at $27,204, compared with $25,917 this year. The standard room rate was set at $4,450, compared with $4,177 this year, and the basic board rate was set at $4,230, compared with $4,127 this year.

Citing the recent downturn in the economy, Isaac Stein, chair of the Board of Trustees, said the trustees deliberately held the increase to a lower rate than last year's 5.4 percent jump.

"The costs of providing an education at Stanford continue to rise, especially given the enormous commitment we have given to financial aid and need-blind admission," Stein said. "We have less endowment per student than our peer institutions, which means we can't rely on our endowment income to recover all of the costs." Stanford remains one of the few private universities that admits students regardless of their ability to pay.

Last year the self-help requirement ­ the amount students are expected to contribute to their educational costs through loans and part-time work ­ was lowered to $5,250. In addition, Stanford has reduced the expected parental contribution for middle-income families by capping the value of home equity, explained Cynthia Hartley, director of financial aid planning and policy analysis. The policy allows parents to cap home value at three times their annual household income. This lowers the impact of home equity when calculating financial aid eligibility.

"It is something that has really been valuable for us in competing with other schools," Hartley said.

Besides being committed to need-blind admission, Stanford continues to invest in undergraduate initiatives such as Stanford Introductory Studies.

Tuition covers only about 60 percent of the actual cost Stanford incurs to educate an undergraduate student. Even students paying full tuition are subsidized by donors and by income from the university's endowment.

Tuition for all graduate programs, with the exception of the Graduate School of Business, also was increased by 5 percent. The Graduate School of Business tuition will be raised by 7.4 percent, to $33,300 per year.

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