Mills’ undergraduate admission costs have gone up following a national wave of tuition hikes. The average annual cost for an undergraduate resident has increased by 8.4 percent compared to last year.
According to Sally Randel, vice president for institutional advancement, any increase in tuition will be offset by an increase in financial aid for continuing students and, to a lesser degree, for incoming students.
Since a similar tuition increase last year did not affect student enrollment, Randel does not anticipate enrollment will be affected this year. “If you look at comparable private colleges we are very low [in cost]. That is a disadvantage for us,” she said. “We wish to be more in the middle of the pack.”
Although the new tuition increase still puts Mills behind other private colleges in terms of cost, the school is part of a larger trend. According to “College Affordability in Jeopardy,” a study released by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, public four-year schools in 16 states have increased tuition by more than 10 percent.
In the UC system, there had been a 35 percent tuition fee increase this year alone, said Randel.
