College tuition in the United States tends to increase every year, along with the inflation and other financial issues, and  Iona is not immune to this trend.

Next year, both undergraduate and graduate tuition at Iona will increase close to 5% for the 2011-2012 academic year. Full time undergraduate tuition will go up from $26,850 to $28,192. Graduate student tuition will go up from $830 to $872 per credit.

“Although I know that it is necessary to increase tuition due to inflation and rising costs, I would prefer that scholarships rise in proportion to the tuition,” junior Clara Steinhagen said. “Some people depend heavily on scholarships for their education, and would not be able to attend school without them. When the tuition inches up but scholarships stay the same, it gets harder and harder for people who depend on scholarship money to meet the costs of education.”

Besides the increase of tuition, room and board rates of $11,800 will also go up to $12,154, and the CAP Summer Program will increase from $750 to $800. Students can choose to live off campus in an attempt to save money, but many students say that this does not save much money in the long run anyway.

Other charges, such as the audit charge and program/student services fees will remain unchanged. Despite the increase of tuition, number of applications, and the still-recovering economy, Iona students’ scholarships will stay the same.

Some students expressed that the increase of tuition could become one of the main reasons to transfer and pursue their higher education at another school. Although education and a college degree are important to students nowadays, some of them are forced to work for a living and even quit college because of the unaffordable tuition.

Iona College offers scholarships to eminent students based on their academic ability during high school or community college. There are several kinds of scholarships: Academic Excellence, Iona Scholarship, Deans Scholarship, Iona Incentive, Transfer Scholarship and Pipers. The admissions office determines which scholarship the students deserve at the time of their acceptance to Iona College. Scholarships will remain the same for their entire four years and students have to maintain the necessary GPA and turn in a FAFSA once a year.

“While I understand that colleges are run like businesses, the tuition increase is an unfortunate aspect,” junior Grace Romanelli said. Although a tuition increase has come to be expected with each year, the common frustration is that scholarships do not increase in direct proportion to the increase of the tuition.  With the economy in the state that it is in, high college tuition adds another level of hardship to hopeful graduates both in the present and in the future as loans will need to be paid off.”

There are certain things that students can do in order to lessen the burden of the increasing intuition. Financial aid and loans will be able to alleviate the financial strain on both parents and students. There are different kinds of loans, such as Perkins Loans, Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loans and Alternative Students Loans.

Although students are free to apply for loans according to their need, they will have to pay back the loan with interest after they graduate. With the current economy, many students are not sure if they will be able to afford living expenses and be able to pay back the loans after they graduate.

College tuition has been going up every year, but many of the students do not know why it goes up and where the money goes. As the tuition goes up, students start questioning the expenses of the school and the use of the increased tuition.