Elon University’s Board of Trustees has approved next year’s budget, funding major new investments in personnel, programs and facilities.
Trustees met in special session Feb. 14 to set the 2012-13 fiscal year budget. As the university enters its third year of the Elon Commitment strategic plan, and with a slow economic recovery continuing to affect students and their families, trustees carefully balanced the many requests for additional resources with their desire to maintain Elon’s position as one of the best values in private higher education. Elon’s costs for the current year are more than $1,600 below the national average for private universities and $5,000-$10,000 lower than most other private universities that prospective Elon students consider.
Next year’s undergraduate tuition represents a 3.99 percent increase over current rates. Tuition will total $28,633 in 2012-13, with room, board and fees for a typical undergraduate set at $9,827. This will be the smallest dollar increase in total cost since 2004-05.
Trustees also set tuition for Elon’s full-time graduate programs, with 2012-13 costs set for Elon University School of Law tuition at $36,100, the interactive media master’s program at $32,485, and the doctor of physical therapy and the new physician assistant studies master’s program both at $32,135.
The additional resources will allow the university to make major new investments in academic quality, including 12 new full-time faculty positions that will allow Elon to maintain its 13-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio. The salary plan for 2012-13 has been designed to direct a proportionately larger share of the salary pool to lower-paid staff at Elon.
The budget provides for a 9.5 percent increase in financial aid to help keep an Elon education affordable for talented and deserving students. Support for the Watson and Odyssey programs for first-generation and high-need students will increase, and Elon will make up more than $1 million in financial support for North Carolina students who will lose state assistance following action by the general assembly.
The budget will continue the university’s investment in the newly launched Student Professional Development Center, enhancing career services, outreach to employers and programs to support students who apply to graduate school. Additional new funds will allow Elon to expand its signature study abroad program as well as grow summer programs in Los Angeles and New York and develop new domestic study away programs.
SPECIAL NOTE FOR STUDENTS FROM NORTH CAROLINA
The North Carolina legislature historically appropriated funds for students who are residents of North Carolina and attend private colleges and universities within the state. Budgetary limitations at the state level have required the legislature to discontinue several long-standing programs, including the North Carolina Legislative Tuition Grant (NCLTG), an $1,850 grant based strictly upon state residency, and the State Contractual Scholarship Fund (SCSF), a grant based on student financial need.
Beginning with fall semester 2012, the NCLTG and the SCSF will be eliminated. In place of these, the state has created the North Carolina Need-Based Scholarship program restricted to students with financial need. Eligibility for the North Carolina Need-Based Scholarship is determined by the NC State Educational Assistance Authority and awards are based entirely upon the results of the Federal FAFSA form; therefore, students must file the FAFSA to be eligible for consideration. For more information about the North Carolina Need-Based Scholarship, go to www.ncseaa.edu.