December 1, 2015

By Christopher Sich 

Dominican will be raising its tuition next school year. Amy McCormack, Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration at Dominican, serves as an accountant at the university that helps make the decisions.

“The budget committee has submitted a proposal that has yet to be approved,” said McCormack. “The proposal goes from the budget committee to the financial committee, then to the board of trustees where it is received and approved or declined.”

There are several factors taken into account when determining the proposal. Pam Johnson, Interim Vice President, said that they compare Dominican with other schools in the area and of the same size such as Benedictine and Elmhurst.

Johnson gathers a majority of the information and takes into account the state of Illinois as a whole, factor such as the Map grant, Pell grant, expenses and the government. “Dominican does not receive state money; a large difference between private and public universities,” said McCormack.

Even though the final number has yet to be determined, “Tuition will increase about 3%; 2.9% with room and board,” said McCormack.

When deciding on the tuition, McCormack, along with Johnson and all other committee members, focus on providing a quality education for the right price.

According to McCormack, “we believe Dominican is the best value for the quality offered; we have high standards for ourselves”.

According to the US News/World reports, Dominican is ranked 20th in the Midwest, a rating that McCormack, and Dominican, is proud of.

Tuition is raised due to the salaries, but also because of the student financial aid. “Student financial aid is the 2nd largest expense after salaries,” stated McCormack. “A big portion of tuition goes right back to the student.”

Dominican understands that in today’s world tuition is expensive, but when Dominican is compared with nearby universities such as Concordia, Benedictine, and Saint Xavier, they have equal tuition rates. Attending Dominican is a possibility for all students, but according to Johnson students must prioritize. “Student must understand the expenses for all four years and have a plan in place,” said Johnson.

“Students must prioritize and make informed decisions on loans,” said McCormack. “We also urge students to attend a community college for the first few years to help financially; this would then make attending Dominican a more feasible option and students would have not as many loans.”

According to campus official’s tuition will rise but for the benefit for the students education.

sichchri@my.dom.edu