NYU plans to increase tuition by 3.5 percent

NYU will raise tuition by 3.5 percent for the 2010-11 academic year as it considers a host of cost cutting initiatives to balance its budget.

In a universitywide e-mail sent yesterday, Provost David McLaughlin and Executive Vice President Michael Alfano detailed plans for the upcoming year as NYU tries to recover from the tough financial times that have impacted universities across the country.

"We have confidence in the excellence and distinctiveness of NYU's education, but the lingering effects of the global recession will make achieving the balance between resources and needs, and between aspirations and realities, that much more difficult to achieve," the two wrote.

The university will also raise room and board by 2.1 percent and fees by 1.9 percent. Financial aid for undergraduates will increase by 5.8 percent to help alleviate pressure on students and their families.

"I'd rather tuition didn't go up, but the fact that they're helping people afford it is nice to know," Steinhardt sophomore Mori Rothman said.

According to the memo, this is the lowest aggregate increase in the cost of attendance in 21 years.

NYU has worked aggressively to close the $120 million budget gap for the 2009-10 year, principally through two re-engineering efforts that have included hiring and pay freezes, outsourcing custodial and maintenance personnel, as well as delaying non-essential construction and renovation projects.

More than $66 million in annual expenses have already been saved through these and other cost-saving initiatives.

Next year the university will consider converting computer labs to wireless lounges, outsourcing e-mail services and consolidating environmental services into Facilities Management to save money.

"I think many universities have [to], or are going to, outsource e-mail," McLaughlin said in an interview with WSN. "It's becoming more and more cost-effective to do so. And frankly, a lot of the providers provide a much better service to students and faculty than we can do internally. The advisory committees are pretty unanimous on the good sense that that move makes."

The university also plans to increase administrator and faculty salary pools by 1.5 percent. Salaries and fringe benefits for faculty, administrators and staff will total more than $1.07 billion this year, which accounts for 52 percent of NYU's total budget.

"[Salary increases] were still very low at 1.5 percent, so we don't feel that we're through this yet, but we feel that maybe we're past the absolute worst," McLaughlin said. "But it's still a very dangerous time that we're in."

Two town hall meetings have been scheduled to discuss the proposed changes. They will take place on Feb. 3 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and Feb. 8 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Both meetings are scheduled to take place in Kimmel Room 914.