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Tuition Set at $21,000 for 1995-96

4 out of 7 Students Get Need-Based Aid Averaging 98% of Tuition, Percentage Increase Is Smallest in 25 Years

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--The Massachusetts Institute of Technology
announced today a 4.5 percent increase in tuition--the lowest in 25
years--for the 1995-96 academic year. This will raise tuition to
$21,000, a $900 increase from $20,100 this year. Four out of seven
students at MIT get financial aid based on need, and the average
financial aid package covers 98 percent of the cost of tuition

The increase in room and board will average 2.9 percent
increase, putting the overall cost for tuition, room and board at
$27,150. This is an increase of 4.1 percent, or $1,075, over this
year's figure of $26,075.

The increases, approved by the MIT trustees today, were
announced by President Charles M. Vest. He noted that tuition
historically covers about half the cost of a student's education, with
the remainder met by earnings from endowment and by unrestricted
gifts and grants.

Dr. Vest said it was important that tuition at MIT, while
reflecting the realties of the economy, "should increase only
moderately." He said that tuition was one of three primary sources
of revenue, the others being federal and industrial research funds
and private support, including gifts and investment income.

By slowing tuition's rate of growth, and making financial aid
available, MIT will remain accessible to bright students regardless
of the family's income, he said. This year, about 57 percent of MIT's
4,472 undergraduates receive financial aid through a combination of
scholarships, loans and term-time jobs. The average aid for a needy
student this year is $19,750 (98 percent of tuition). Scholarship
grants from MIT are $27.7 million of a total of $34.5 million in
grants from all sources. Loans and term-time work account for an
additional $7.8 million.

In order to cope with a gap between income and expenses, MIT
has undertaken a four-year cost-cutting plan that includes a $40
million cut in operating costs and a work force reduction of about
400.

The university's nominal self-help level--the amount students
are expected to provide from loans and term-time work before
receiving scholarship assistance--will be raised $500 to $8,150, a
6.5 percent increase. MIT reducesthe self-help requirements for
students from families of very low income by as much as $3,500.

Because students from wealthier families who fail to qualify
for financial aid still receive scholarships from outside the
financial aid system, it is estimated that only about 29 percent of
students and/or their parents pay the full amount.

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