Letter to Parents

Dear Dickinson Parents:  

The Dickinson College Board of Trustees recently approved the college’s fee schedule for the 2012-13 academic year. The annual price for tuition, fees, room and board for the 2012-13 academic year will increase by 3.47 percent (or $1,869) to $55,729 from $53,860. The current student fee of $450 that supports student activities, health, counseling and wellness services on campus is unchanged for the 2012-13 academic year. We are providing notice at this time to give you the opportunity to adjust your Tuition Payment Plan agreement or to make other financial arrangements in preparation for your child’s upcoming year at Dickinson.

The decision to increase our tuition and fees during these difficult economic times was made after extensive discussion on campus (participants included students, faculty, administrators and support staff) and among the trustees. Our foremost objective with this tuition increase is to ensure that we continue to offer the highly competitive and personalized education you have come to expect of Dickinson. This includes:

• a continuing commitment to hiring and retaining exceptional faculty dedicated to teaching and scholarship
• ongoing support for student-faculty interaction in small classes and collaboration on independent study and research
• an ongoing commitment to a useful liberal-arts curriculum that offers students enriched opportunities and remains current with new initiatives—recent additions include sustainability, security and health studies
• and continuing enhancement of advising and career services to ensure high placement rates for our students in excellent graduate and professional schools and in rewarding, meaningful jobs.

It should be noted that we pursue each of these objectives while at the same time ensuring that your child’s education remains solid in the face of innumerable global financial threats.

Commensurate with our commitment to access and affordability and our efforts to assist students and their families, the college has budgeted up to $39 million for financial aid for the 2012-13 year. This allocation of financial assistance represents Dickinson’s ongoing commitment to access and affordability and our quest to help more students with financial aid in the coming years. It is important to remember that each financial-aid case is assessed individually; therefore, the 2012-13 financial-aid budget does not mean all students will receive an increase in their need-based aid.

As you begin to plan for the next academic year, I encourage you to visit the Student Accounts Web site at go.dickinson.edu/studentaccounts. This site provides information about available payment methods, tuition payment plans, loans and tax benefits for education. Additionally, Dickinson participates in the Private College 529 Plan, which offers a guaranteed way to purchase tuition and required fees at today’s rates. Members of the Student Accounts team also are ready to help you and can be reached at 717-245-1953 or stuaccts@dickinson.edu.

I thank you in advance for your understanding and for your commitment to Dickinson College.

Sincerely,

William G. Durden ’71
President