Tuition Rates Announced for 2016-17

Tuition rates for Bethel Seminary and the College of Adult & Professional Studies programs will not increase for the 2016-17 academic year. All Graduate School programs will also stay the same, except for the physician assistant (PA) program, which will increase from $740 per credit in 2015-16 to $773 per credit for 2016-17.

Tuition rates for traditional undergraduate students will increase by 3%, effective fall 2016, bringing the annual tuition rate for full-time students (taking 12-18 credits per semester) in the College of Arts & Sciences to $35,010.

Meal plan rates will increase by 5.5% for the next academic year. These costs vary based on the plan selected. The most comprehensive meal plan will cost $4,460 for the 2016-17 year. Freshmen living on campus will continue to be required to purchase one of these plans. As in the past, the room rate for continuing students will not increase while they are enrolled at Bethel, provided they live in campus housing every semester. Room rates for new students will be $5,700, an increase of 1.97%.

The Bethel Student Government (BSG) fee will remain the same at $75 per semester, a price decided upon by currently enrolled students. The comprehensive fee—tuition, room, board, and BSG fee—for the 2016-17 academic year will be $45,270 for full-time students in their first year in campus housing, up 3.10% from last year.

Bethel recognizes the financial sacrifice families make to send a student to Bethel, and though this is not easy news to share, the tuition increase is in line with that of comparable institutions in the area. In fact, Bethel University recently took the number one spot on a list of “Top 25 Private, Nonprofit, High-Admission Bachelor’s Colleges by Graduation Rate” released recently by AffordableSchools.net, an independent college search and rankings site that centers on unique and affordable offerings within higher education.

The list is part of a series of “top 25” college lists that AffordableSchools.net will release in various niche categories. For this ranking, the 25 colleges included are all private, nonprofit institutions with more than 2,000 students. In addition, the researchers looked for schools that had the same tuition rate for in-state and out-of-state students, an undergraduate admissions rate of 95% or above, and high graduation rates. Finally, the average yearly net price, stated tuition, and financial aid support rate were all taken into consideration. Visit AffordabaleSchools.net to read the complete article and see which other colleges made the list.

Financial aid can significantly reduce the average tuition price that students actually pay, and more than 90% of degree-seeking Bethel freshmen receive financial aid through scholarships and grants. In recent years, Bethel has substantially increased the amount of internal gift aid given to students. In 2014-15, students enrolled in the College of Arts & Sciences received $33.8 million in grants and scholarships from Bethel, up from $19.5 million in 2007-08.

The most up-to-date tuition rates for students can be found on the financial aid websites for each school: College of Arts & Sciences, Bethel Seminary, College of Adult & Professional Studies, and Graduate School.