• About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • Senate Report — 4/19/21
      Senate Report — 4/19/21
    • A look beyond Wellesley as alumnae look back: Reflections on college, careers and gender
      A look beyond Wellesley as alumnae look back: Reflections on college, careers and gender
    • Accepted students navigate COVID-era college decisions
      Accepted students navigate COVID-era college decisions
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • Reweighing the freshman 15
      Reweighing the freshman 15
    • Wellesley, say goodbye to AVI
      Wellesley, say goodbye to AVI
    • When having a bad day
      When having a bad day
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • 2021 YA books to put on your radar
      2021 YA books to put on your radar
    • “Promising Young Woman” Promises Something It Never Delivers
      “Promising Young Woman” Promises Something It Never Delivers
    • Harry Styles ushers in a new style era at the Grammy Awards
      Harry Styles ushers in a new style era at the Grammy Awards
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
  • Health and Wellness
    • Athletes in the Era of TikTok
      Athletes in the Era of TikTok
    • Karate Club Makes Strides In Zoom Tournaments
      Karate Club Makes Strides In Zoom Tournaments
    • COVID-19: Popping the Wellesley Bubble
      COVID-19: Popping the Wellesley Bubble
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • Miscellanea
    • No image
      Remote students experience existential crises; change class years in email signatures
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Your next on-campus romance isn’t going to work out
      Your next on-campus romance isn’t going to work out
    • The Artichoke
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Kathryn Cross News, News and FeaturesSeptember 22, 2016

Tuition increase most impacts students not receiving financial aid

Tashay Campbell ‘18 working at mail services. | Photo by Audrey Stevens '17

This year, tuition at Wellesley increased by 3.9 percent, culminating in a total comprehensive fee of $61,000. According to Student Financial Services Director Scott Wallace-Juedes, Wellesley augmented its tuition because the cost of doing business as well as the cost of college in general increases each year.

According to Wellesley Director of Public Affairs Susan Rucci, the additional funds from tuition that Wellesley receives will go towards operating expenses, which include funding supplies, scholarships and employee salaries.

However, Wallace-Juedes said that within the past six years that he has worked at Wellesley College, he has not noticed any correlation between any previous or this year’s tuition increases and an increase in students applying for work study positions.

Brooke Lawrence ’17, who works as a Library and Technology Services Student Manager, agreed.

“I haven’t noticed a particular increase in applications,” Lawrence, who is on financial aid and Federal Work-Study, said. “The library tends to get a lot of applications anyway because we’re so visible.”

Maxine Hood ’19, who is not on Federal Work Study, but is a student technician at the Clapp Library Help Desk, also stated that the tuition increase did not affect on-campus employment availability either.

“I think that the people who want to work will find work,” Hood said.

“I know that there’s tough competition for standard college jobs, but it’s easier to get a job if you go through certain departments and look at specific skills that certain jobs require.”

On the contrary, some students do not concur, such as the members of the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP). This past March, SLAP hosted table talks to create a forum discussing how to enhance Wellesley’s financial accessibility.

Additionally, Wallace-Juedes said that job availability may even be less of an issue this year than it has in past years solely because there have been a couple of on-campus employment changes along with the tuition increase. For instance, Residential Assistants (RAs) and House Presidents (HPs) are now being compensated when in past years, they were not.

However, second floor Beebe RA Mariana Hernandez ‘19 said that she does not know of any RAs who quit their original work study jobs just because they now receive a stipend as an RA. For instance, Hernandez is on financial aid and work study herself, and still continues her first-year work study job as a mail service associate. She did, however, take fewer hours this year.

“Being an RA hasn’t changed my financial situation much,” Hernandez said. “I may be paid just a little more this year than I was last year, but the payments are different. RAs get paid a stipend at the beginning and end of the semester and it’s not based on hours. It’s a lump sum.”

Although the tuition increase does not seem to be affecting on-campus employment or the number of work-study applications, the tuition increase does negatively affect students who are not already awarded financial aid.

“If a student has a need-based financial aid award, which comes with a work study award, and that student’s financial situation stays the same, the student can expect an additional grant to cover any increase in tuition,” Wallace-Juedes said. “The tuition increase would have probably more dramatically impacted non-aided students.”

Nonetheless, if a student is impacted in an extremely negative way, United States citizens and permanent residents can apply for financial aid as their college tuition increases. On the other hand, international students cannot. International students are admitted under a need-aware financial aid policy, meaning that his or her financial situation is considered during the admissions process.

Consequently, Wellesley Student Financial Services (SFS) can award international students financial aid as they are admitted to Wellesley, but even if there is an increase in tuition, their financial aid package would still remain the same.

“The financial aid contribution for international students is what we promise them will be a contribution from us for four years,” Wallace-Juedes said. “That way, they do not have to reapply for aid each year, but they cannot apply for a different financial aid package.”

Wallace-Juedes said that within the next semester, SFS is going to research more about work study and financial aid patterns amongst students, so the department may uncover some evidence surrounding the true effects of the tuition increase. For instance, Student Financial Services employees are going to investigate why some students who have work study awards do not pursue work study.

“It is not mandatory to take advantage of work study, so we’re going to try and understand if it was because they couldn’t get a job that they wanted or some other reason,” Wallace-Juedes said.

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous articleNews in Brief: 9/21
Next articleStudent political engagement reaches peak during first presidential debate

You may also like

Senate Report — 4/19/21

A look beyond Wellesley as alumnae look back: Reflections on college, careers and gender

Accepted students navigate COVID-era college decisions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

  • weighing scale against a white background Reweighing the freshman 15
  • Accepted students navigate COVID-era college decisions
  • A look beyond Wellesley as alumnae look back: Reflections on...
  • “Promising Young Woman” Promises Something It Ne...
  • 2021 YA books to put on your radar

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2021 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top