MIT has announced a 4.8 percent increase in tuition for the 1996-97 academic year, raising tuition by $1,000 to $22,000. Nearly 60 percent of this year's undergraduates get financial aid based on need, and the average financial aid package covers 95 percent of the cost of tuition.
The increase in room and board in 1996-97 will average 3.3 percent, putting the overall cost for tuition, room and board at $28,350. This is an increase of 4.4 percent, or $1,200, over this year's figure of $27,150.
The increases, approved by the MIT trustees on March 1, were announced by President Charles M. Vest. He noted that tuition historically covers about half the cost of a student's education, with the remainder met by earnings from endowment and by unrestricted gifts and grants.
Dr. Vest said that tuition was one of three primary sources of revenue for MIT, the others being federal and industrial research funds and private support, primarily gifts and investment income. While tuition reflects the realities of the economy, by moderating its rate of growth and making financial aid available, MIT will remain accessible to bright students regardless of the family's income, he said.
This year, about 59 percent of MIT's 4,480 undergraduates receive financial aid through a combination of scholarships, loans and term-time jobs. The average aid for a needy student this year-to help pay the $27,150 cost of tuition, room and board-is $19,980. Scholarship grants from MIT are about $27.2 million, or 80 percent of a total of $34.2 million in grants from all sources. Loans and term-time work account for an additional $22 million.
The university's nominal self-help level-the amount students are expected to provide from loans and term-time work before receiving scholarship assistance-will be raised $450 to $8,600, a 5.5 percent increase. MIT reduces the self-help requirements for students from families of very low income by as much as $3,500.
Because students from wealthier families who fail to qualify for financial aid still receive scholarships from outside the financial aid system, it is estimated that only about 29 percent of MIT students and/or their parents pay the full amount.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on March 6, 1996.
