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The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Editorial: A risky endeavor?

Four times a year GW’s Board of Trustees meets to discuss and decide on important issues concerning the future of the University. At the next meeting – scheduled for this Friday – the Board is set to debate a proposal fixing tuition rates for incoming freshmen over four years as an alternative to yearly tuition hikes. If passed, GW would be one of the first private universities to implement such a policy. While the University points to several potential advantages in the implementation of such a plan, there are doubts as to whether the prospective benefits will outweigh the drawbacks.

There could be many advantages to a fixed tuition rate. By knowing precisely what four years of college would cost, many families would be able to plan exactly how to pay for a GW education. Previously, parents and students have had to adjust loans and other financial aid based on how much tuition rises in a given year. Under this plan, financial aid awards from the University could not decrease and parents would know the exact payment required from year to year.

In a fixed tuition rate system, the University would be able to know definitively how much revenue a student’s tuition would draw over a four-year period. Currently, administrators can only project how much tuition will rise in the next year, making it more difficult to plan the funding of long-term initiatives. Through a fixed tuition rate, the University’s knowledge of its revenue would allow it to extrapolate financially feasible projects aimed at improvement.

The fact that students would be investing more money at the beginning of their time at GW would more than likely increase the student retention rate, a vastly positive effect for the University. Students would be more reluctant to transfer given their financial investment, which would go a ways in improving GW’s standing in the college ranking system.

But despite the potential benefits of the fixed tuition proposal, The Hatchet has some serious concerns about its impact on the student population. And although this system provides one alternative to the skyrocketing price of college tuition, addressing the issue in this manner could be more damaging to students in the long run.

The University could lose marketability in offering a fixed price. While tuition rates would remain constant for the four years, it is only logical from an administrative standpoint to set these rates higher than they are now to compensate for what would otherwise be yearly tuition hikes. If the University were to commit to a certain tuition level, it would need to ensure its ability to operate in an economy affected by inflation. Because the tuition rates GW would advertise would rise above the current market range, it is questionable if prospective students would read the fine print to know that these rates were not subject to change, and thus more reasonable than they will seem at first glance. Such a situation could substantially lower the number of applications the University receives, a negative that is possibly significant enough to counteract increased retention rates, at least in the eyes of U.S. News & World Report.

The fact that the University is publicizing that it has an exit strategy in case the market experiences high inflation levels shows a lack of planning. In proposing such a substantial change, the University must be certain this plan will be effective in achieving its goal and should form a committee similar to one that researched the trimester system to gauge the impact of the change. To some, this apprehension could signify another administrative quick fix to a more complex problem.

A switch to a fixed tuition rate could be an exciting alternative to the status quo. While this plan might be the solution to the serious issue of rapidly rising tuition, it is incumbent upon GW to adequately research its potential negative consequences and ensure the system benefits students and the University.

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