Endowment funds looking healthier
Tuition increase still expected for 2010-2011 school year
Casey Cheney
Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: News
The Hillsdale College endowment fund has been up both quarters of the 2009-2010 fiscal year, though administrators still anticipate a tuition increase next year, marking an end to this year's tuition freeze.
The endowment gained 7 percentage points as of the end of September, the second quarter of the fiscal year. It was up by 7.5 percent at the end of the first quarter in June.
Currently, the endowment is at $270 million, about a $4 million increase from the end of the second quarter in 2008.
This is a welcome change after the endowment took about a 20 percent hit last fall. Chief Ad-ministrative Officer and Treasurer Ken Cole said the endowment didn't see any increase until after March of 2009, what he described as "the bottom of the market."
Now, Cole said, he hopes the endowment will continue increasing, but can't guarantee it will.
"There's mixed signals whether the fiscal return will continue," he said.
Cole does, however, anticipate a slight increase in tuition for 2010, the budget won't be finalized until next spring.
"We're probably going to build into the budget next year a slight tuition increase," he said, adding that he won't know what the increase is until February when the board of directors decides the budget.
Cole said, on the whole, a Hillsdale College education is still "a bargain" when compared with other schools.
Annual tuition with room and board at Hillsdale is currently $27,670, while other private liberal arts schools in Michigan are several thousand dollars more expensive. Both Albion and Kalamazoo colleges cost more than $37,000, and Hope College costs more than $32,000.
Director of Admissions Jeff Lantis said that while it was nice to have the tuition freeze as a part of their recruiting, a tuition raise won't much affect their sales pitch. Admissions never made this the main selling point for recruiting students, Lantis said, and the school has always been good about reasonable tuition increases.
The endowment gained 7 percentage points as of the end of September, the second quarter of the fiscal year. It was up by 7.5 percent at the end of the first quarter in June.
Currently, the endowment is at $270 million, about a $4 million increase from the end of the second quarter in 2008.
This is a welcome change after the endowment took about a 20 percent hit last fall. Chief Ad-ministrative Officer and Treasurer Ken Cole said the endowment didn't see any increase until after March of 2009, what he described as "the bottom of the market."
Now, Cole said, he hopes the endowment will continue increasing, but can't guarantee it will.
"There's mixed signals whether the fiscal return will continue," he said.
Cole does, however, anticipate a slight increase in tuition for 2010, the budget won't be finalized until next spring.
"We're probably going to build into the budget next year a slight tuition increase," he said, adding that he won't know what the increase is until February when the board of directors decides the budget.
Cole said, on the whole, a Hillsdale College education is still "a bargain" when compared with other schools.
Annual tuition with room and board at Hillsdale is currently $27,670, while other private liberal arts schools in Michigan are several thousand dollars more expensive. Both Albion and Kalamazoo colleges cost more than $37,000, and Hope College costs more than $32,000.
Director of Admissions Jeff Lantis said that while it was nice to have the tuition freeze as a part of their recruiting, a tuition raise won't much affect their sales pitch. Admissions never made this the main selling point for recruiting students, Lantis said, and the school has always been good about reasonable tuition increases.
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