After an increase in Ferris’ tuition costs, students are expressing mixed reviews about how the changes are going to affect them.
According to Ferris’ tuition page, the credit hour rate has increased by $16 for U.S. and Canada freshmen and sophomores, $21 for U.S. and Canada junior and seniors and $35 for all international undergraduate students.
Credit rates have also increased by $29 for U.S. and Canada graduate students and $43 for international graduate students.
Business administration sophomore Brooke Boron has concerns regarding how the information about the tuition increase was released.
“I would just wish that they would have sent like a warning out to say like, ‘Hey, tuition is going up,’” Boron said. “Maybe they did send something out and you had to look for it. But if you had to look for it, then that would kind of just be pointless. So, if they’re going to tell us, [they] should probably make it more bold.”
Boron explained that she had to take out loans for her tuition, and that because she wasn’t warned about the tuition increase sooner, she was caught off guard by the increase, and now has to take out a bigger loan than she had initially planned.
Economics sophomore Pedro Saltini, an international student from Brazil, stated that he had a different reaction to the tuition news.
“I personally didn’t feel any changes. I think most of the international students are at a higher tuition and that can represent for them, [that] it can be more challenging to pay this tuition. I personally could find great opportunities throughout the summer here.”
In addition to being upset about not receiving a warning about the tuition increase, Boron also feels frustrated with the increase, as she finds the value of some of her classes lacking.
“Just from last year, I don’t even remember half the stuff I learned a geography and you know, I paid a ton of money for that class,” Boron said. “If it just continues to go up tuition and the classes aren’t gonna have that much resonation with me then when my paying for?”
Saltini had a different take on what the increase in tuition could help pay for, for students.
“The opportunities we can get for example for new travels or seminars that we could go, and competitions that we can attend,” Saltini said. “If we keep improving all those opportunities and giving those to the students, I think the reason the tuition is justified because you are providing to the students a better service and that requires more money.”
Boron expressed concerns for the remainder of her time at Ferris.
“I worry about the more major direct[ed] classes being less proportionate in like, increase in cost than the gen-ed classes,” Boron said. “Because, right now, it’s not a ton, but I’m just wondering if once we get into more concentrated classes, it would be way more.”
As the academic year begins, the effects of the tuition increase will take place among all students.