Deja Goode
Arts Editor
The price of attending the University of La Verne will not increase in the 2021-22 academic year, President Devorah Lieberman announced this week in an email to the community.
Every year since 2012, ULV undergraduate tuition prices have increased between 2% and 6.5%.
The decision to freeze undergraduate tuition at its current rate of $44,550 was in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the financial strain it has caused the La Verne community, with communities across the nation.
“Normally we can always expect slight increases in tuition,” Provost Jonathan Reed said in a phone interview this week. “With the economy and employment being the way it is, it’s important for us to really try and cap tuition… so that it’s more affordable for our students.”
“Every year the University goes through a process where we include feedback from ASULV,” Reed added.
The Associated Students of University of La Verne act as a voice for the students, and one of their goals was to express the hardships that students are going through due to complications from the pandemic.
Sarah Morales, president of ASULV, addressed the Board of Trustees on Oct. 15, to let them know that affordability is a top student priority.
Mary Aguayo, vice president of strategic enrollment management, said the tuition freeze with other revenue shortfalls because of the pandemic means that budgets will be tight for a while across the University.
“Historically tuition increases have been used to fund increases to salaries, to recruit and retain top professors and staff,” Aguayo said. “This year we focused on reallocating existing resources to fund these needs because maintaining affordability is a top priority for our students during the pandemic.”
The Board has also allocated additional funding for student scholarships.
This year all traditional undergraduate students received $1,000 in additional funding with no application necessary, Aguayo said.
“All ROC and graduate students who had financial need on their financial aid applications received an award up to $250 this fall, too,” Aguayo said.
Taylor Vasquez, an educational studies major, said the additional funding and the announcement regarding tuition remaining the same was a weight lifted off of her shoulders.
“It definitely alleviated some of my stress of taking classes during a pandemic and relieved the pressures of wanting to graduate early based on tuition prices,” Vasquez said.
For information about financial assistance under the federal CARES Act and the Student Emergency Fund, visit laverne.edu/accounts/cares.
Deja Goode can be reached at deja.goode@laverne.edu.
