Saint Louis University officials will announce today that tuition for the 2007-2008 academic year will increase by 8.5 percent from last fiscal year.

For most students, housing cost will increase 3 percent to 4 percent, depending on the housing sites. Meal plan rates will remain the same.

Provost Joe Weixlmann, Ph.D., said with costs for the University going up across the board, tuition must follow suit.

“Obviously, our expenses continue to escalate,” Weixlmann said. “8.5 certainly wasn’t a goal-[we] try to keep it as low as possible. [The increase] is a net effect of adding 25 new faculty, new academic programs, improving our information technology center.”

The total bill for the 2006-2007 academic year was $35,058. Next year, the aggregate bill for undergraduate students residing on campus will be $37,428-and additional $2,370, an increase of 6.8 percent.

The total of $37,428 reflects the sum that a student would pay without any form of financial assistance, whether in the form of grants or scholarships.

“I think it’s unfortunate anytime tuition increases,” said Pat Deveny, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. “But it’s understandable. To do students justice, there needs to be an increase in scholarships and grants.”

Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Bob Woodruff said that the discount rate for the incoming freshman class hovers around 40 percent.

“If tuition were $100, [the average incoming freshman would] pay $60, or 60 cents on the dollar,” Woodruff said.

Graduate students are not immune from the spike in tuition rates. Law school tuition jumped by 5.2 percent, up to $30,040 per year. Medical students will pay 4 percent more, adding up to $42,140 per year, and other graduate credit hours will now cost $845, an increase of 4.5 percent.

For the 2008 fiscal year, the University has budgeted a $1 million in need-based assistance for upperclassmen. In addition, the University intends to make $12 million in new investments across the University, with a $4.3 million chunk earmarked for academic improvements-adding three new academic programs at Doisy College of Health Sciences, hiring 25 new faculty members and updating library materials.

Approximately $4.5 million will be spent on renovating older residence halls and academic buildings.

Last year, tuition went up 6 percent overall.

SLU’s increased tuition rates reflect a national trend. According to a trend study in the rising cost of college by the National Center for Education Statistics, from 1995 to 2005, “prices for undergraduate tuition, room and board at public colleges rose by 30 percent, and prices at private colleges increased by 26 percent.

“I think the students and their parents will be displeased. One way to ease their pain would be to increase scholarships and grants,” Deveny said.