Title: New Financial Plan Prioritizes Financial Aid, Academic Life Investments
The Georgetown board of directors approve a four-year financial plan reflecting investments in student financial aid, new research, academic programs, faculty salaries, technology, infrastructure and more.
Investments in student financial aid, new research, academic programs, faculty salaries, technology, infrastructure and more will continue to support a vibrant academic life at Georgetown under the financial plan the board of directors approved last week.
The board also approved a new Master of Science in Environmental Metrology and Policy through the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and a new Executive Masters in Clinical Quality, Safety and Leadership through the graduate school within the Department of Medicine.
The four-year plan, which covers fiscal years 2018-2021, includes its largest investment ever in financial aid for the next fiscal year, with more than $180 million dollars set aside to help students pursue their educational goals.
The university plans to increase the amount it dedicates to financial aid by $12 million for FY2018, bringing the total investment to $194 million. More than $200 million annually is planned for fiscal years 2019-21.
The plan also provides funding to address the cost of several adopted and anticipated federal and local legislative actions related to compensation and paid leave.
Renovations and Upgrades
Over the next four years, the university also plans to invest nearly $120 million in renovations and upgrades to facilities across its campuses.
Funding has been set aside for a major upgrade to the university’s technology infrastructure, including modernizing and improving the wifi network and security profile through a new partnership with Verizon.
Need-Blind, Full-Need
Georgetown is one of only about two dozen colleges and universities that maintain need-blind, full-need admission and financial aid policies for their undergraduates.
In place since the late 1970s, Georgetown’s policies meet the full need of eligible students –regardless of their ability to pay – through a combination of loans, grants and work-study.
About 40 percent of the undergraduate student body received need-based scholarship aid in the last fiscal year.
Research Opportunities
Georgetown continues to invest in undergraduate and graduate research. In a Class of 2016 senior survey, 43 percent of undergraduates said they had participated in research at the university.
The seniors rated their opportunities to participate in research with a faculty member 3.6 on a 4.0 scale, compared with Ivy League schools’ average of about 3.5.
The Georgetown Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (GUROP), in which students spend a minimum of 60 hours per semester/summer working on a faculty member’s research, remains a popular program on campus, Between fall 2013 and fall 2016 GUROP involved 662 students and 287 faculty members.
But GUROP is only one of many opportunities students have to conduct research, as others opt to do senior or honors theses, serve as teaching assistants or research with faculty not involved in the program.
Tuition Numbers
The previously announced undergraduate tuition for the academic year beginning in the fall of 2017 will be $51,720, a 3.5 percent increase over the last fiscal year’s $49,968.
The total cost of undergraduate tuition, fees and average room and board for the next academic year will be $68,346.
Tuition at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will rise 3.5 percent for the next academic year, with Georgetown Law tuition for full-time J.D. students rising by 4.0 percent. Tuition at the School of Medicine will rise by 2.25 percent.