By Kim Manahan (Whetstone Staff Writer)

The price to attend Wesley will get higher in the fall.

Tuition will increase by five percent next school year to nearly $21,000, said Eric Nelson, vice president of finance.

Wesley is not alone. Many schools across the country are increasing their tuition.

The University of Delaware’s tuition will be increasing eight percent to $24,240 for out of state students. This year, it cost $19,775 to attend UD.
Nelson blames anticipated inflation and said that the past two deficits in 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 have nothing to do with the increase.

“We budget tuition rates based upon projected levels of expense for the next academic year,” he said.

Blame operating expenses, he said.

“This year we have been hit with another large increase in health insurance,” Nelson said. “Utilities are going up, cost of food increases and the pressures on the overall economic conditions of the world certainly are all contributing factors.”

Last year, Wesley paid $1,608,224 to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware for insurance, and the year before paid $1,653,117, almost $50,000 less.
“We have a lot of contracts tied to inflation,” Nelson said. “We are remodeling the bathrooms in the residence halls and need cash.”
The bathrooms in Roe, Gooding and Williams halls that need the most work will be remodeled, he said.
Nelson said that the administration will officially notify students of the increase on April 1, about two months after it was approved at a board of trustees meeting in February.
Nelson said that the school will help students any way they can with paying.
“The budget by [President] Obama included no cuts in it for financial aid,” he said. Last year, tuition increased by 2.5 percent, but in the early 2000’s, there was a nine percent increase.

The average tuition and fees for private non-profit four-year colleges is $27,293, said CollegeBoard.com.

For a public four-year college it is $7,605 for in-state students and $11,990 for out of state students.
“We’re doing our best to keep financial aid intact,” Nelson said.

Until enrollment is determined, there will be no increases in faculty salaries, the college said in contract forms recently given to professors.

“We aren’t making any announcements on this at the present time,” Nelson said.