The DePaul budget for 2014- 2015 academic year was approved bringing a raise in the cost of tuition but also more financial aid and an elimination of additional course and class fees for students.
The new budget will raise tuition by 1.6 to 2 percent for continuing undergraduate students and 3 percent for incoming freshman. According to the Office of Student Financial Services, the tuition increase is one of the lowest ever for continuing undergraduate students and is meant to match the rate of inflation.
Raising tuition is a choice made by the Tuition Pricing Committee each year. There are three members of the Student Government Association who have varying levels of influence on the TPC. The SGA president is a voting member of the full committee while the vice president and treasurer are voting members on the undergraduate and graduate subcommittees of the TPC but do not have a vote on the full committee.
“I, as Student Government Association President, voted against the tuition increase,” Casey Clemons said. “I was the only voting member of TPC to vote against the tuition increase.”
However, due to a SGA proposal the university will eliminate all course and class fees starting fall quarter. Previously, students could be subjected to fees that ranged between $10 and $500 depending on the course and section that a student was in. The colleges and programs affected by the change include Discover Chicago, College of Computing and Digital Media programs, Nursing, College of Education, and the College of New learning to name a few.
“The biggest hurdle in eliminating class and course fees was getting all necessary university departments and parties to agree,” Sarah Rens, SGA vice president, said. “It took time for everyone to come around to the idea and find a way implement it. But this year, thanks to the help of Bob Kozoman, there was agreement that this was was the best decision for both students and the University.”
DePaul will not however be a fee free university. Other fees such as student activity fees and the athletic fees will still be around come next fall. The Student activity fee will remain $25 per quarter for students who are taking more than 12 credit hours. Like wise the athletic fee is also $25 per quarter and goes toward giving students free access to sports events and other benefits.
In addition to relieving students of course and class fees, the new budget increase the total amount of financial aid provided by the university by 5 percent. The additional aid will be distributed to students in the same manner as aid is currently being distributed.