The University’s $224 million operating budget for the 2003-04 fiscal year sets new tuition rates and earmarks $34 million for scholarships.
Under the budget, approved by the Board of Trustees, undergraduate tuition in 2003-04 will increase 6 percent, to $25,365 for incoming students. Law school tuition will rise 5 percent, and graduate program tuition increases, which vary slightly among programs, will be no higher than 3.6 percent.
The board approved a plan to fund merit pay increases for its 1,500 faculty and staff in the fiscal year that began July 1. The 2003-04 budget provides additional money for information technology, faculty research grants, and increases in health and liability insurance and utilities.
The 2003-04 overall operating budget is approximately 4 percent higher than the operating budget for the 2002-03 fiscal year.
SCU is building a new undergraduate residence hall, set to open in September, and is in the midst of a $350 million general fundraising campaign, which will fund scholarships and build a new business school and a new library.
The University,one of the top 20 employers in Silicon Valley, and identified as “one of the best places to work in Silicon Valley” by San Jose Magazine-has no plans for a university,wide hiring freeze, and will retain current employment levels in 2003-04, said Robert Warren, SCU’s vice president for administration and finance.
Warren noted that while the University’s investment returns are high relative to those of many other nonprofit organizations, “we are seeing the effects of 12 consecutive quarters of disappointing investment performance.”
Santa Clara University’s $406.7 million endowment as of July 1, 2002, is the 100th largest among U.S. colleges and universities and the seventh largest in California, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
The University in 2002 was again identified as a “great school at a great price” and was ranked second among all public and private master’s universities in the West by U.S. News and World Report.