By Joanna Reid
Increases in the cost of everything from gasoline to groceries have been on the rise this year, leading to news stories about inflation and concerns among consumers. But as many incoming Adelphi University students are learning, tuition is taking a hit as well, leading to a higher cost to attend the college since the pandemic started in 2020.
According to the recent College Board’s Trends in Higher Education, during the height of the pandemic, increases in tuition and fees nationwide largely held steady. Now, some colleges are increasing tuition as much as 5 percent, pointing to inflation and other costs as the reason. At Adelphi the increase is 3 percent, according to James Perrino, executive vice president of finance and operations, which he said is less than other Long Island schools.
“In May 2022, we evaluated select peer institutions and their proposed tuition increases,” he said. “Adelphi was the third lowest proposed increase at 3%. The average proposed tuition increase was 4.2%, taking into account proposed increases of 5% at Molloy, 5% at NYIT and 8.1% at Hofstra.”
In the 2019-2020 school year Adelphi charged about $40,300. The following year, tuition and fees rose to around $42,036, despite the fact that many classes were held online. For the 2021-2022 academic year, tuition and fees cost $42,576. This year Adelphi is charging $21,903 per semester (including fees), which comes to $43,806 per year, a $3,506 increase since 2019-2020.
Comparatively, nearby Hofstra University charged about $47,510 for tuition and fees in the 2019-2020 school year. This year the university is charging $52,215, an increase of $4,705.
These tuition increases could have big impacts on students struggling to afford college.
A question box was posted on The Delphian Instagram account, where an anonymous senior told this newspaper that due to inflation and higher tuition rates, they could not afford the dorm they preferred to live in. The senior added, “My roommate might not even be able to stay with me because housing costs went up. I might move to a different or less expensive room as well or even consider commuting.” They questioned where Adelphi’s funding goes and why more support is not being offered during these times.
Perrino weighed in on the matter. “Each year, the university carefully considers how best to support our students’ success including recruitment of new faculty who are experts in their field, evaluation of new technology, new clubs and organizations, new academic programs, enhanced health and wellness offerings, upgrades to space including classrooms, labs as well as student services. While the costs to deliver an education and all of the wrap-around support services have risen substantially, we have done our best to minimize any tuition increases.”
Perrino added that as tuition increases, so does the level of institutional grant aid.
Kristen Capezza, vice president of enrollment management and university communications, clarified, “Our institutional aid (scholarships and need-based assistance) has grown from $50 million to more than $80 million since 2015, demonstrating our strong commitment to making an Adelphi education affordable. We redesigned our scholarship policy so that students who are awarded merit aid at the time of admission no longer have to worry about that aid being reduced or canceled for not meeting a GPA requirement.”
Additionally, Perrino said there will be more funding to improve services available to students, including enhanced dining options and hours, in-person/hybrid/and online help desk services, expanded journal and periodical access through the library, and mental health and counseling support, including unlimited access to the mindfulness app, Headspace.
Further, Perrino said that even though the underlying costs for support services have increased, fees like technology, recreation and library use have been held flat since 2019 in order to minimize the increase to students.
While nationally inflation has influenced current tuition prices, Adelphi is attempting to protect students from facing a larger financial burden with extra funding going directly back to helping students further their education.