The Hopkins Carey Business School recently announced that its undergraduate tuition will rise 42.6 percent, from $491 to $700 per credit hour.
On average, tuition per credit hour at all Hopkins graduate school campuses was raised to $890 dollars. This constitutes an increase of 11.3 percent and 21.1 percent for the D.C. and Montgomery County campuses, respectively, and 30.9 percent for the Columbia, Homewood and Downtown Baltimore campuses.
Currently, the Carey Business School only offers one full-time degree program - a Master of Science in Real Estate - which saw a 13.9 percent increase from $39,500 per year to $45,000.
According to Yash Gupta, dean of the Carey Business School, there are currently 136 undergraduate students enrolled, all part-time. Most of these students have junior or senior standing, having completed coursework elsewhere. These students also typically hold jobs while taking classes at Carey.
In an e-mail to current students, Gupta outlined the reasons for the tuition increase.
"Our increased tuition will help us build on important initiatives, begun this year, to revitalize and expand our academic programs, our student services and the entire student experience - including new lecture series and networking events," Gupta wrote.
Several plans for the school include hiring new faculty, expanding career services, acquiring and implementing new technology, as well as building new classroom facilities and student gathering areas. ?In his letter, Gupta also compared the new tuition at Carey to the tuition at George Washington University and the University of Maryland Business schools. Undergraduate tuition per credit hour at Maryland, George Washington and Georgetown business schools is $902 for out of state students, $1,150 and $1,564 respectively, not including fees or other charges.
Current Carey student Danielle Iman said that this increase in tuition may affect her chances of graduating on schedule.
"I currently bear the full cost of my tuition and will be put in a very difficult situation come September," Iman wrote in an e-mail to the News-Letter.
Gupta argued that the increase in tuition was necessary to fund new developments for the Carey Business School as it prepares for accreditation and a hope of offering full-time degrees after 2010.
"If we are going to hire the world's best faculty or create an institution of learning that offers all the services that students demand, including career and advising services, all of these need to be paid for," Gupta said.
"We plan to begin a full-time MBA in 2010, so we have to hire faculty for that program. We will have to receive accreditation for that to go forward. I used to sit on an accreditation board, so I know what it takes in order to go through that process."
Iman noted that the strength of faculty and the prestige of the Hopkins degree were two reasons why she chose to attend the Carey school.
"I certainly understand the Dean's reasons for the proposed tuition hikes," Iman wrote. "However, a phase-in approach would have allowed students to prepare accordingly. It is a great school, but it is also very important to remember that the current economic crisis affects both schools and students."
Gupta also noted ways in which the tuition increase, while large, may not have as significant an impact on students as the price tag might suggest.
"We will offer scholarship money, so that those who are really in a needy situation will have a cushion . . . It sounds like a very high percentage, but students are taking two classes a semester on average, and they are taking longer to complete their degrees."
Gupta indicated that a significant number of students were Hopkins employees, which lessens the burden of tuition, though statistics were not available.
Gupta feels that this tuition increase will ultimately help to increase the value of a degree from Carey.
"I want students to reflect in 10 years and say, 'My degree value has improved.' There are many examples of business schools that weren't very good in the '60s or the '70s but today are leaders in business education, and their students and alumni have all benefited," he said.
