Editorial: Tufts should not raise tuition without transparency

Although Tufts has not yet published its finalized tuition costs for the 2017-2018 academic year on its website, many students opened their Student Information System (SIS) accounts last week to the shocking news that Tufts’ official sticker price has crossed the threshold of $70,000 per year (including room, board, books and personal expenses).This comes in the wake of fierce student activism this past fall as part of  Tufts Student Action's #HaltTheHike campaign against rising tuition costs. In particular, the campaign demanded a stop to tuition increases for the 2017-2018 academic year, greater financial transparency and improved financial aid resources.

This approximately five percent increase from current tuition, room and board costs from the 2016-2017 academic year comes without justification from the university as to how the funds are being allocated or why the current tuition, room and board costs are not sufficient to maintain university activities. Until Tufts can show how its money is allocated and defend its need for significantly higher costs, students should not blindly accept the rise in tuition.

Furthermore, Tufts is open about the fact that it is not need-blind in its admissions process, although it does claim to meet 100 percent of demonstrated financial need for admitted students. When overall costs for the university exceed the average American household’s annual income, Tufts further establishes itself as a university geared towards high-income families, dissuading talented low- and middle-income students from applying.

In light of the recent New York Times article indicating that Tufts is one of the least economically diverse colleges in the country, it is clear that Tufts needs to do more to encourage a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives on campus. By increasing costs, Tufts is further distorting representation on campus. Tuition increases can sometimes be justified and necessary, but the university has failed to show why its rising costs can be classified as either. 

As long as Tufts continues to increase tuition without transparency, it puts pressure on current students to keep up with tuitions higher than when they entered Tufts and limits the diversity of the campus community. Transparency is the first step in an open dialogue between students and administrators about how to balance the financial demands of the school with more reasonable tuition costs. As such, it is important that we continue to demand accountability from the Tufts administrators and protest mounting costs.