To: The Sarah Lawrence College Community

I am writing to inform you of the tuition, fees, room and board rates recently approved for the 2008-09 academic year by the College's Board of Trustees. The undergraduate tuition charge for next year will be $39,450. For students living in College housing, room charges will be $8,756; meal plan charges will range from $1,492 to $4,960 depending on the plan selected; and the general college fee will be $700. The student activity fee, established by the Student Senate, will be $200. The new tuition, fee, room and board schedule represents an overall increase of 5.2 percent over this year's rate. Financial aid packages for returning students currently on aid will be adjusted as necessary to reflect the new charges.

As in years past, this year's increase reflects the costs of sustaining our exceptional pedagogy, with its unparalleled focus on teaching—teaching that gives voice and direct support to each student's intellectual curiosity. It is an educational model characterized by one of the lowest student-to-faculty ratios in the nation, implemented without the use of teaching assistants and with a minimal reliance on large lecture courses. This hand-made approach to learning is our greatest strength and it presents us with our greatest challenge. The formula of small seminars, student-faculty donning and regular conference meetings brings with it extraordinary costs.

Similarly, our location just minutes away from Midtown Manhattan is one of the College's assets and one of its significant encumbrances. In a metropolitan area in which the cost of living is among the highest nationally, the College continues to be under significant pressure to maintain compensation at levels sufficient to attract and retain the skilled and dedicated faculty and staff that constitute the core of our pedagogy.

We also must respond, through greater efficiencies but also added expense, to external forces that are driving operational expenditures at rates well above the consumer price index. These factors include rising health insurance premiums, the weakening U.S. dollar (which increases the cost of delivering our study-abroad programs), and escalating utility fees.

Beyond these factors, the College will commit considerable resources in 2008-09 to important needs in a wide range of areas. For example, in the Film/New Media program, existing digital editing and video processing equipment will be replaced with state-of-the-art hardware and software, accompanied by the addition of new filmmaking equipment. Electronic Music, Theatre, and the Sciences are other examples of disciplines where we are making significant investments in learning technologies and equipment. In the Esther Raushenbush Library, we will soon begin renovating a significant expanse of the first-floor to serve as a quiet study and reading space—a high priority for our students.

Around campus, classroom and auditorium audio/visual presentation capabilities will be upgraded and the College will move forward with implementation of new smart classroom equipment. The recent expansion of wireless networking to practically all classrooms and public spaces on campus will be followed in 2008-09 by the initial implementation of wireless services in a substantial portion of our student-living spaces.

To respond to quality-of-life issues, we will this summer make substantial renovations to student residences in Andrews Court and Slonim Woods. The College also will renovate portions of Hill House, exterior and interior. With generous donor support, Sarah Lawrence will renovate some of its existing community spaces for students, while creating a "News Lounge" in the Pub where students can watch video news feeds and catch up on daily newspapers. Across campus, in Hill House, the College will open a much-needed community gathering space. The design and functionality of these spaces will be determined largely by student representatives.

With the benefit of eight months leading this remarkable institution, I appreciate more than ever the value of the Sarah Lawrence mission. I also understand the formidable prospect of affording Sarah Lawrence. In setting budgets and arriving at next year's rates for tuition, fees, room and board, the campus budget committee, the Board of Trustees and I recognized the need to manage judiciously the costs of College operations while preserving the pedagogy and enhancing the resources available to our students. I believe that we have arrived at a reasonable balance between these competing priorities—a balance that ensures our students continue to enjoy all of the advantages they have come to expect from a Sarah Lawrence education.

Sincerely,

Karen Lawrence
President