Spring Break
Major Costs Rise
Michelle Firestone
Issue date: 9/14/07 Section: News
Students often consider tuition costs and affordability when choosing a college, but few would ever think to consider the price when choosing a major.
Some state universities have begun to charge differential tuition rates to cover the costs of more expensive majors.
According to UConn Provost Peter Nicholls, engineering, business, and computer science fields are usually affected by these additional charges, but the university does not charge more for these majors.
UConn has refrained from imposing these tuition rates due to the significant private, state, and federal funding the university receives.
There are disadvantages and advantages to this approach.
"On the plus side, we are not charging students more for technical and business degrees and therefore we are attracting more students into these fields where the state has a real need," Nicholls said. "On the downside, it means that students enrolled in 'cheaper' majors are subsidizing those in more expensive majors."
At some schools, the differential pricing is affecting the major choices of lower-class students, according to a New York Times article published in July. The students are forced to forgo their first major choice to avoid incurring more financial debt.
"Most universities with differential tuition are using some of the money, 20 to 25 percent, for additional financial aid to offset the impact," according to the article.
"At Arizona State University (ASU) we pay the fee for all those who cannot afford it, so the fee does not prevent those who cannot afford it from taking these majors," said Elizabeth Capaldi, ASU's provost in an e-mail response.
ASU imposes additional charges on journalism, business, engineering and design majors. The charges cover the extra expenses connected with these programs.
"Journalism just started charging this fall for entering students - the other programs have been doing this awhile," Capaldi said. "In the case of journalism, the extra fee will pay for the extensive high level of technology used and the costs of keeping it up to date."
Some state universities have begun to charge differential tuition rates to cover the costs of more expensive majors.
According to UConn Provost Peter Nicholls, engineering, business, and computer science fields are usually affected by these additional charges, but the university does not charge more for these majors.
UConn has refrained from imposing these tuition rates due to the significant private, state, and federal funding the university receives.
There are disadvantages and advantages to this approach.
"On the plus side, we are not charging students more for technical and business degrees and therefore we are attracting more students into these fields where the state has a real need," Nicholls said. "On the downside, it means that students enrolled in 'cheaper' majors are subsidizing those in more expensive majors."
At some schools, the differential pricing is affecting the major choices of lower-class students, according to a New York Times article published in July. The students are forced to forgo their first major choice to avoid incurring more financial debt.
"Most universities with differential tuition are using some of the money, 20 to 25 percent, for additional financial aid to offset the impact," according to the article.
"At Arizona State University (ASU) we pay the fee for all those who cannot afford it, so the fee does not prevent those who cannot afford it from taking these majors," said Elizabeth Capaldi, ASU's provost in an e-mail response.
ASU imposes additional charges on journalism, business, engineering and design majors. The charges cover the extra expenses connected with these programs.
"Journalism just started charging this fall for entering students - the other programs have been doing this awhile," Capaldi said. "In the case of journalism, the extra fee will pay for the extensive high level of technology used and the costs of keeping it up to date."
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