Message from Acting President and Provost Barry Brown

After careful consideration, the Board of Trustees has approved tuition rates for the 2011-2012 academic year. The decision followed recommendations by the Treasurer, Academic Deans, the Board of Trustees and myself.

As has been the case in recent years, we remain mindful of the financial burden that rising education costs place on students and their parents. The University continues to undertake prudent steps toward managing and controlling our costs. At the same time, we continue to provide an academic environment that will allow each of our students to flourish.

In order to maintain standards of excellence that meet our students’ highest expectations, we have set undergraduate full-time tuition for the 2011-2012 academic year at $29,778. The increase of 4.8 percent is the smallest increase in 35 years.

Tuition increases for graduate programs in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Sawyer Business School also will be 4.8 percent.

The Board has maintained its principal of keeping our tuition level well below comparable institutions. Of the 56 private colleges and universities in Massachusetts, 39 have undergraduate tuition rates higher than Suffolk University.

Most importantly, the tuition increase is primarily directed at increasing funds to be made available to our students for financial aid. Approximately seventy percent of next year’s tuition increase will be used to fund financial aid.

In addition, there will be no increase in housing costs for the coming year.

In the Law School, tuition for the full-time day program will be $42,540, an increase of 3.5 percent, while tuition for the evening program also will increase by 3.5 percent to $31,904.

More information on tuition rates by program, including the numerous graduate programs, as well as room and board rates may be found at http://www.suffolk.edu/offices/17097.html.

We continue to invest in teaching, scholarship and in the quality of the academic experience. Our guiding principal remains as it has for a century: to provide students of promise and potential with access and opportunity to excellence in higher education.

Barry Brown
Acting President and Provost