Wesleyan’s tuition has been named the nation’s ninth most expensive this year by CNN. The cost of tuition at the University for the 2006-2007 academic year is $35,144, although the addition of room, board, fees, and other expenses brings the actual price closer to $44,000.

But according to John Meerts, vice president for finance and administration, it costs the University nearly $62,000 per year to educate a student.

“As you notice, this is a lot more than our student charges of about $44,000,” he said. “This is in part because the endowment and alumni gifts make up the rest.”

Nationwide, the average annual cost at a four-year private college has topped the $30,000 mark for the first time, according to the latest report from the College Board. The average total cost at a four-year private college is $30,367, which allows $22,218 for tuition and $8,149 for room and board.

The average total cost at a four-year public college, meanwhile, is $12,796, which breaks into $5,836 for tuition and $6,960 for room and board.

According to the report, average college costs rose faster than the price of inflation for the eleventh straight year.

Wesleyan’s rate of tuition growth matched the national average for private institution tuitions, at 5.9 percent. Public college tuitions rose 6.3 percent.

“We base our tuition increases on our budgeted needs for operating the university,” Meerts said. “This includes everything from financial aid to salaries to operating the physical plant, library and information technology infrastructure, the Freeman athletic facilities and paying for utilities.”

According to Meerts, the tuition for next year has not yet been determined, although an eye is kept to other schools during the determination process.

“We do look at what other colleges are charging, as well as what they are spending, because we want our tuition and expenses not to be out of line,” he said. “However, because of our smaller endowment relative to other competitor schools, we rely proportionately more on tuition—versus reliance on endowment—while we provide the same, or even better, quality education.”

Meerts stressed that the University is continually trying to keep cost down.

“This year [fiscal year 2007] we are cutting $3 million from the budget and over the next four more years we will cut another $2.5 million,” Meerts said. “We are constantly looking for ways to cut costs, such as the proposed COGEN facility [power plant] which may save as much as $500,000 annually when it goes online. Our purchasing department has saved us over $1,000,000 through careful negotiations with our vendors and suppliers.”

The College Board report states that faculty salaries are significantly higher at private institutions than at public institutions, and the gap is growing. Meerts responded to recent faculty objections to salary raises at Wesleyan.

“Obviously faculty salaries are a significant part of our cost and we aim to pay competitive salaries,” Meerts said. “We compete for faculty with schools that have larger endowments than ours and yet we provide the same excellent level of education they provide.”

However, another study released by the College Board, “Education Pays 2006,” offers some good news for those who dole out money for a higher education: a full-time worker aged 25-34 with a four-year college degree earns an average of almost $14,000 more annually than those without one.

In 2005, women ages 25-34 with bachelor’s degrees earned 70 percent more than those with high school diplomas. Men earned 63 percent more.