By: Meghan Daniel, contributing writer
On Oct. 24, Wofford students received the news via email: tuition is again on the rise. In both the email to the Wofford community and a letter sent home to the families of Wofford students, the 2018-19 tuition, as approved by the Board of Trustees, is quoted as $56,530. That is an increase of $2,435 from the ‘17-18 comprehensive tuition fee of $54,095 and a total increase of $8,680 for the senior class, whose tuition coming into Wofford for the ‘14-15 academic year was $47,850.
So why the increase? It’s all about budgeting. When President Samhat met with the Old Gold & Black staff, his first response to this question was “We want to be able to compensate faculty, staff and coaches at a decent and respectable level… additionally we want to be able to operate our programs and facilities at the highest quality level.”
Samhat said there is an overall desire to have the school operate as efficiently as possible, while still providing the quality education and experience that attracts many students to Wofford.
Barbie Jefferson, Chief Financial Officer, gave more insight into the new budget, which is expected to be finalized in the spring of 2018. She began by expanding on the reasons for the tuition increase, emphasizing that Wofford is a non-profit organization, thus student tuition and fees are the primary source of revenue and the only source to fund increasing costs. She then listed the typical expenses of the college, which play a role in the reevaluated budget, including the necessity to increase personnel salaries/wages to keep up with the cost of living, utilities, energy conservation measures, and medical costs for personnel.
Additionally, she noted the more exciting costs of the college, namely the Jerry Richardson Indoor Arena and the Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center for the Arts. Jefferson noted that the addition of these new facilities to our campus will be the biggest annual cost because of the maintenance required for the buildings and the new staff required for their operation. Overall, she implied that the increase in tuition is simply an effect of the costs associated with maintaining a college that is dedicated to progress.
To sum up the reasons that are driving tuition up, Samhat said of Wofford, “We do a lot of things.” He listed out the many roles and responsibilities that Wofford takes on: hotel, food provider, medical care provider, entertainment facility, sports facility, and of course, primarily education provider.
He emphasized the importance of continuing to offer these services and programs, noting that Wofford simply wouldn’t be Wofford without them. To conclude, Samhat stated that, as a college, “We are in a really good spot now.” If raising the tuition is what it takes to keep our college strong, so be it.
