Tuition costs rose $1,541 on Jan. 27. The increase brings tuition for the 2015-16 academic school year to a total of $48,212, which is approximately $514 more per term.
Administrators were not available to comment at the time of publication.
According to College Board, the average published tuition and fee price for students enrolled full time at private nonprofit four-year colleges and universities increased by $1,100 between 2013-14 and 2014-15. Augustana was able to keep costs rising at a lower rate.
In a campuswide email, David English, vice president of finance and administration said, “We anticipate this tuition increase will be lower than many of our peers, but realize it represents a very substantial commitment from families.”
Similar liberal arts institutions have displayed much higher costs than Augustana. Knox College released 2015-16 tuition costs at $50,859, according to their website. Lake Forest College has set tuition at $52,214 for 2015-16, according to their website. Illinois Wesleyan University has not yet released costs for the 2015-16 school year, yet their 2014-15 tuition total was already at $50,290. Wheaton College was the only institution that released 2015-16 tuition costs lower than Augustana, with tuition set at $42,240.
Augustana College was listed as one of the most cost efficient liberal arts colleges, based on 2015 US News & World Report statistics.
The rankings measured operating efficiency.
The premise of the analysis is that the less a school spent relative to its position in the overall rankings (from the 2015 US News & World Report college rankings), the more efficient it was in its ability to produce a top-quality education, according to the website.