Spring Break
Lowry Mays Business School institutes differential tuition
By: Chelsea Lankes
Issue date: 3/27/07 Section: News
 Stephen Fogg - The Battalion |
In 2008, students of the Mays Business School may pay more in tuition than their peers in different majors, because the school recently implemented differential tuition. Differential tuition is when colleges within a university set a tuition rate specific to that college. Mays Business School is the only school at A&M that has implemented this plan so far.
It gives the school the opportunity to charge its students the rate of tuition that will be effective in improving facility and fundamental aspects of that school. The flat rate tuition A&M charges is distributed among all schools, therefore limiting additional funds the specific schools may need. The differential tuition is a rate that will be assessed on top of the flat rate that A&M already requires of its students.
Martha Loudder, associate dean and professor in Mays, says the differential plan is long-term and the exact amount of money to be charged has yet to be determined.
The profit from differential tuition will be applied to funding additional faculty, funding for scholarships and financial aid, as well as funding for classroom, facilities and program enhancements.
Tyler Koch, senior biomedical science major, says the profit from the tuition should go more toward scholarships rather than facility improvements.
"I think they need to keep increasing scholarships for students, to ensure the best education for the best students regardless of their financial background," Koch said. "No one cares what the carpet looks like in business school, just as long as the students are getting the best education for the amount of dollar that they are paying."
Loudder said the additional tuition will enable the school to hire more faculty, which means decreased class sizes.
"Our class sizes in the business courses are much larger and it will also enable us to provide more scholarships and other services to students," Loudder said. "The Business Student Council seems to be very much in favor of it, because they see its advantages. They are very aware of the fact that our peer institutions have differential tuition or higher tuition, and can provide for their students in a way that Mays cannot."
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