Tuition for full-time students at the university's Homewood campus will increase just over 5 percent in 2001-2002, in part to cover operating costs of the new student arts center and a recreation center that will open this fall.

The 5.1 percent increase, from the current $24,930 to $26,210 in the 2001-2002 academic year, was approved by the university's board of trustees at its February meeting. The hike, which applies to all full-time students in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Whiting School of Engineering, includes $330 dedicated to operations of the two new centers.

Next year's tuition hikes for full-time students in most of the rest of the university are also right around 5 percent. Exceptions include SAIS, where tuition will increase 3.6 percent, and the Peabody Conservatory, where full-time charges will increase 4.4 percent. Incoming medical students pay the same tuition during their entire four-year course of study; tuition for first-year M.D. students this fall will be $28,100, a 4.1 percent increase.

Tuition increases for part-time study vary widely around the university, from a low of 1.2 percent to a high of 15.5 percent. A complete list of 2001-2002 tuition charges across the university is available online at webapps.jhu.edu/jhuniverse/information_about_hopkins/ facts_and_statistics/tuition_ and_financial_aid/index.cfm.

At Homewood, the tuition increase excluding the amount for arts and recreation center operations would be 3.8 percent.

"This is the second and last year in which tuition increases for Homewood students will reflect the costs of the new student buildings," said Steven Knapp, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. "We are working to control costs and anticipate a significantly smaller increase next year."

Both the arts and recreation centers are part of the university's ongoing effort to enhance the academic, extracurricular and residential experience for the 3,900 full-time undergraduates at Homewood. Other examples include recent residence hall renovations, the current open space improvements and the construction beginning later this year of Hodson Hall, a new building equipped with the latest in "smart" classrooms.

Construction of the arts and recreation centers has been financed through gifts to the university, but operating costs must be covered from tuition.

Nearly half of Homewood undergraduates receive need-based financial aid and do not pay full tuition. The university's financial aid packages have improved significantly--with larger grants and smaller loans--since Michael R. Bloomberg, chairman of the board of trustees, designated for financial aid two-thirds of a $45 million 1998 pledge to the university.

Federal antitrust law prohibits universities from exchanging advance information on tuition, so it is not yet clear how the university's 2001-2002 full-time undergraduate charges will compare to those at many other private universities. Tuition prices announced so far include a range of increases from 6 percent at Stanford University ($25,917) to 2.87 percent at Princeton University ($26,160). Among 10 Ivy League and other comparable universities that have made public announcements so far, tuition rates for next year range from $26,768 at Duke and $26,568 at Brown to $25,375 at Georgetown.

At Hopkins, room and board for Homewood undergraduates will increase 3.9 percent, to $8,506 (for a 19-meal plan and a double room in the Alumni Memorial Residences). The total of tuition, room and board for undergraduates living on campus will rise 4.8 percent to $34,716 from the current $33,121.