News Release

Tuition for full-time undergraduates at The Johns Hopkins University's Homewood campus will rise 5 percent this fall to $37,700, an $1,800 hike that is slightly smaller than this year's increase.

The increase for the 2008-2009 academic year applies to the nearly 4,600 full-time undergraduates in the university's Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Whiting School of Engineering.

The board of trustees approved the new charges along with next year's tuition for all other Johns Hopkins full-time and part-time programs. The increase is smaller than the 5.9 percent, $2,000 increase that brought tuition to $35,900 for the current academic year.

Kristina Johnson, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, said that the cost of a Johns Hopkins education — and how it affects the makeup of the student body — is one of the most important issues facing the university. Financial aid, she said, is one of the university's highest fund-raising priorities.

"Johns Hopkins is committed to diversity, including socioeconomic diversity," she said. "We want to continue to attract the best and brightest students, which is a driver behind initiatives like the Baltimore Scholars program that ensures that any student graduating from a Baltimore City public high school who is qualified to attend Johns Hopkins can afford to."

University officials said that the increase for this fall was driven by both increased operating costs — in such areas as employee health benefits, utility costs and technology — and new student-focused services. Initiatives at the Homewood schools include the creation of a Study Abroad Office and the formation of a separate Office of Student Disability Services to meet the demands of a growing population of students with special needs.

Room and board charges for the upcoming year have also been set. At Homewood, charges for a typical residence hall room will increase this fall from $6,340 to $6,618 and those for a 19-meal plan from $4,752 to $4,960. That brings total charges, before financial aid, to $49,278.

As tuition and other charges increase, however, the university's financial aid to undergraduates also rises, said Vincent Amoroso, director of the Office of Student Financial Services. For many undergraduates, financial aid will cut the actual cost of next year's education at Johns Hopkins to well below the nominal cost, he said. This year, about 40 percent of Homewood undergraduates are receiving need-based grants from university funding. Amoroso said that among Homewood undergraduate families who qualify for financial aid, the median cost is about half the "sticker price." For students with family incomes below $40,000, aid covers most of the cost of attendance. The university also has been increasing the grant portion of financial aid packages and reducing loans.

Elsewhere in the university, full-time undergraduates at the Peabody Conservatory will pay annual tuition of $33,000 in the fall, up 5.1 percent from this year. Full-time undergraduate tuition at the School of Nursing will increase 5 percent. Part-time undergraduate tuition will increase by varying amounts in different schools. For a complete listing of 2008-2009 Johns Hopkins undergraduate and graduate tuition rates, go to webapps.jhu.edu/jhuniverse/information_about_hopkins and click on "JHU Facts and Stats."