2008 Woodie Awards
Saint Mary's students get what they pay for
High price tuition pays for majority of College's functions
Irene Nino
Issue date: 9/18/07 Section: News
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Vice President for Finance Peter A. Michell considers students to be essential to the budget. Michell insists that the "most important factor is to know how much of the budget is dependent on the students." Of the school's total revenue, 54 percent comes directly from the students. This year, undergraduate Saint Mary's students paid a sum of $50.9 million.
Jia Shen '09 said, "The amount we have to pay [for tuition] might be reasonable. Even if it's expensive, if they tell us what percent of our tuition goes where, we will understand why it cost so much; otherwise, everyone will still just complain about the tuition."
A majority of tuition goes directly to the people. Approximately two- thirds of the school's revenue goes directly to pay for staff, faculty, and student salaries and benefits. In addition, the money that is allotted for contracted services also goes specifically to the bookstore management, Oliver Hall employees, and sanitation employees.
Michael Beseda, the vice provost for enrollment, said, "A vast majority of money is going directly to run the educational institution, money that is going to people that make the institution worth going to; counselors, teachers, and coaches who support students and allows them to have an outstanding education."
Unfortunately, teachers cannot trade in their lectures for groceries, nor can they rent out their knowledge. Though the cost to attend Saint Mary's is a numerically daunting sum, it does not seem as intimidating when examined from a professor's point of view.
Lily Manderville '10 said, "I think most of our tuition should go to faculty and staff if we want to have high quality faculty and staff." Manderville understands that "paying for professors and speakers to come on campus costs money."
Calculating the budget gets exponentially more complicated when people and their needs are involved. Michell emphasized his desire "to continue to offer competitive salaries to both faculty and staff." Michell said he wants the salaries to stay competitive and continually account for inflation.
Since Saint Mary's attempts to keep up with the cost of living, and is currently renovating much of campus, it has an existing debt of roughly $75 million.
Brenda Ramirez '10 worries about where her money is going. She said, "Right now a lot of the money is going to all the building and a lot of that construction I will never be able to see or really use. It's not for us and we have to pay for it."
Although it is hard to have a long-term mind set, Michell stresses the importance of these current transformations. He said it is important to be "reinvesting more into the Physical Plant." Michell also added that he is "cognizant of [how costly tuition is] and wants to try to decrease it and make sure Saint Mary's stays affordable."
Currently, the students are sustaining much of the budget and Michell wants to see this changed. He desires "to enlarge endowments, to have more operating revenues, to receive more gifts, to have a greater percentage of alumni giving money, even if it's small, and to expand graduate programs."
An entire committee is actually devoted to planning, coordinating, and determining the budget priorities. This Budget Committee is meeting and preparing year-round to develop the best suited budget for Saint Mary's.
Every year the financial committee decides how much money of the budget they can allot to scholarships and financial aid. Annually, $20 million is given in financial aid, and 20 percent of that money comes from earnings of endowments in addition to gifts.
Each year, Saint Mary's receives between $3.5 and $4 million in gifts and endowments specifically to contribute to students who cannot afford the tuition. About 70 percent of undergraduates are dependent on some form of financial aid. Ramirez said, "I wasn't planning on staying [at Saint Mary's] because it wasn't affordable."
Beseda said the school purposely attempts to have 25 percent of each incoming class eligible for Pell Grants. Students that come from low-income homes are awarded federal Pell Grants. Without financial aid, students would contribute $75.7 million. However, the school has given $24.6 million to students as financial aid.
Financial aid considers the academic success of each student, along with their level of financial need. Each year, $4.5 million are allotted to students who merit academic or athletic scholarships.
Manderville came from a Lasallian high school in Washington, which, along with a GPA higher than 3.3, automatically made her eligible for an $8,000 scholarship. She said, "I've always had to work [to pay] for school," but "if you work hard enough, you can get what you want. This school does a good job in providing scholarships."
From Pell grants and scholarships, to loans and work study, there are a myriad of options the College offers students in need of financial support. Although Saint Mary's offers ways to decrease the costly tuition, the amount remains unsettling for many.
Beseda, a Saint Mary's graduate from the class of '79, relates to the underlying resentment of the expensive tuition. He said, "I understand the feeling. People felt the same way when I was at Saint Mary's, and that was 30 years ago when tuition was $2,500."
There has been a shocking and incessant increase in the cost of colleges, not only Saint Mary's, but all private schools, inevitably caused by inflation. Manderville realizes this as the way the economy works and said that tuition "is very fair"and "this area is expensive." The only question that still stands is whether or not students are getting what they pay for.
Beseda said, "There's a high return on high education. It pays off in a monetary way. It is a big investment, but is worth the investment."