Last Thursday, Bucknell students and parents were alerted that the Bucknell University Board of Trustees approved an increase to the University’s comprehensive fee, which comprises tuition, standard room and board and the student government fee. The Board voted to increase the comprehensive fee for the 2024-25 academic year by 4.75% ($3,846), reaching a total fee of $84,736.
In its released statement, the University explained that the rise in tuition is largely due to the immense investments it has made over the last couple of years in trying to improve the quality of education at Bucknell. For example, the University opened three new centers: the Center for Access & Success, which supports students in Bucknell’s national and signature scholarship programs; the Dominguez Center for Data Science, which will prepare students to solve global problems in a digital age; and the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, which will amplify new and existing entrepreneurial programs across campus.
Bucknell also cited their investment in diversity and inclusion efforts as a reason for the comprehensive fee increase, creating new offices and hiring new staff, including the First Vice President for Equity & Inclusive Excellence, over the last couple of years to assist minority and underrepresented students.
Additionally, the administration and Board of Trustees opened two new residence halls at West Campus Apartments, a complex that will include five halls when completed in 2025.
The Board of Trustees said in their announcement, “All of these accomplishments benefit today’s students while advancing the goals of our strategic plan and helping to ensure the enduring value of their Bucknell degree.”
Furthermore, the email stated, “Bucknell is committed to investing in students so that they can receive an exceptional undergraduate education — one that encourages them to pursue their interests in and out of the classroom, creating the foundation for a lifetime of personal and professional success.” They continued on to express the value of their “invest[ments] in outstanding faculty and staff,” which ultimately “provide a truly transformational experience […] as well as academic and residential programs that distinguish Bucknell as a leader in higher education.”
And while those in higher up at Bucknell think the tuition increase is beneficial and justified, many students across Bucknell are frustrated at augmenting the already expensive bill and how it might affect things such as financial aid.
One student, Christopher Oko ’26, expressed his frustrations with the increase in tuition saying how “colleges are essentially preparing their students less for the real world and more for a world full of debt”. He also shared his opinion on how the investments Bucknell puts in with it’s money through tuition already should go towards improving housing and dining services, rather than the investments they have already made.
