In addition, the board voted to increase financial aid by 5.7 percent, or $4.1 million, to a total of $76.6 million. Members also approved funding for an expanded development effort and other operating expenses to support academic enhancement initiatives, including new master's degree programs in accounting and anesthesiology.
Discussing the factors behind the tuition increase, trustees cited the need to recruit and retrain top faculty and administrators and to pay for ongoing investments in construction and technology initiatives.
They also pointed to the fact that BC's tuition, fees, room and board rate for the current academic year was the fifth lowest of the 20 select private colleges and universities with which BC has maintained a comparison over the past two decades. Among the competing institutions with higher rates are Boston, Brown, Cornell, Georgetown, New York and Tufts universities.
Committee chairmen updated board members on construction, fund raising and investment issues. Buildings and Grounds Chairman Joseph E. Corcoran reported that Higgins Hall is on budget and scheduled for completion in May and said the Lower Campus Office Building would be completed by Aug. 1 with a Sept. 1 occupancy date.
John M. Connors, co-chairman of the University's "Ever to Excel" Campaign, reported that $345 million of the campaign's $400 million goal had now been raised, despite a weakened economy.
The next meeting of the Board of Trustees is scheduled for May 31.