On Thursday, March 31, the Brandeis Board of Trustees approved a 3.9 percent increase in comprehensive undergraduate charges for the 2016 to 2017 academic year. In an email to the student body, Interim President Lisa Lynch said the money will be applied in the coming year to “help ensure [students] have access to enriching college experiences.” 

This includes hiring 17 new tenure-track and full-time faculty members, investing two million dollars in sustainability projects and renovations in East Quad, implementing initiatives regarding sexual assault awareness and hiring a chief diversity officer to promote inclusion of underrepresented groups on campus. 

As students, this Board is acutely aware of the financial burden this increase will bring for so many. 

This method of raising funds will always be unpopular, stressful for students and their families. Ultimately, however, a predictable annual tuition hike of this amount (only .2 percent larger than the tuition increases for the past two academic years) is a practical solution for fulfilling specific community needs. This new revenue is being applied toward causes the student body and community have vocally pushed for, and to provide new services without cutting other crucial ones, the tough pill of tuition raises is one of the only practical solutions. 

Many of the pricey changes the University plans to make are a direct response to student advocacy. Hiring new faculty and staff for the purpose of increasing inclusion and diversity, for example, will help the University meet the demands of Ford Hall 2015. Other projects address recurring student complaints, such as renovations to deteriorating campus housing spaces.

In this instance, the administration has displayed a high level of transparency regarding where student dollars will be applied. The Justice estimates that the 3.9 percent increase to tuition and fees will bring in a sizable 7.22 million dollars of extra revenue that will be funneled into these projects. 

These higher charges are certainly upsetting but also should not come as a surprise — the rising cost of obtaining of bachelor’s degree in the United States is higher education’s characteristic flaw. Maintaining tuition rates at Brandeis would not unilaterally solve that pervasive problem but would make the University less competitive with peer institutions who are willing to take on these types of annual tuition increases. More importantly, it would force the University to attend to some communal needs over others due to sheer cost. The increase in tuition and other student fees will allow the University to improve the overall undergraduate experience by offering new and improved campus resources.