HIRAM COLLEGE Administration hopes tuition guarantee draws students

The 2004-05 tuition is expected to be roughly $21,000.
HIRAM -- A new tuition guarantee that will lock in tuition and fees for four years for students entering Hiram College next fall and beyond is being touted by university officials as a way to attract new students and keep them in school for four years.
"I think it's going to make a huge difference for our parents and our prospective students," said Thomas V. Chema, interim president. "Over the past couple of years, our board of trustees has been frustrated that the cost of college tuition is going up and we wanted to look at ways to impact that."
College officials said the private, liberal arts institution is the first Ohio college and one of a select few nationally to offer this guarantee.
Left in debt
Chema said students had faced not only tuition increases, but also financial aid programs that don't keep up with those increases. As such, many graduate in substantial debt.
"We were losing students because of the financial pressures and we don't want that," Chema said. "We want them to come here and spend four years with us and benefit from the Hiram experience."
While the 2004-05 tuition rate will not be set until January, Chema said he expects tuition will be roughly $21,000, up about 7 percent from the current rate.
Historically, students had faced increases in tuition of roughly 4 percent to 5 percent per year, he added. Hiram's traditional student population of 900 will not be afforded a guarantee, but Chema said their tuition increase will be lower that the 7-percent rate. He expects the increase to current student tuition will be 4 percent in 2004-05.
The guarantee does not apply to room and board costs. It also does not apply to the Hiram Weekend College for working adults, which enrolls roughly 300 students.
Looking back
Tuition and fees at four-year private colleges have gone up 79 percent in the last decade, Chema said. The increases are mainly because of staff costs and technology.
Chema said the college hopes the guarantee will attract more students at the school, which has room for 300 more traditional students.
He said Hiram remains among the lowest-cost institutions in its peer group. Among schools in the North Coast Athletic Conference -- including Allegheny, Earlham, Wabash, Oberlin, Kenyon, Denison, Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan, Wittenberg, and Hiram -- Hiram is tied for the lowest rate, he said.
For more information on the Hiram College Tuition Guarantee, visit www.hiram.edu/tuitionguarantee.