Editorial: Nickel and dimed to death, the cost of a Lehigh education

Attending a private university can sometimes feel like signing up for a service without reading the terms and conditions.

While you may think you’re signing on to pay just a single ticket price to attend Lehigh, wellness fees ($230), technology fees ($600), the first year orientation fee ($421) and activity fees ($280) pile up on top of tuition, housing and food.

Yes, these fees aren’t hard to find upon looking on the university’s website. But what these fees entail is not as apparent.

Also, these charges don’t even begin to account for all of the fees a student will face at Lehigh before graduating, as they’ll also end up being responsible for paying for things like textbooks, parking, laundry, events and more for their entire four years.

The amenities that the extra fees cover were once included in the tuition of these private universities.

However, as the price of tuition has increased, we can’t help but think they’ve snuck in these fees on top of tuition to create the illusion that the cost of attendance is lower than it actually is.

All while the cost of attending a private university has been increasing, specifically by 154% between 1970 and 2023, these additional and hidden costs have made it difficult to determine where tuition money is going. Because if the $66,810 tuition doesn’t cover a student’s necessities like textbooks, meals and housing, then what is the money used for?

Even though more than 50% of students at Lehigh receive some form of financial aid, many don’t receive a full ride to attend or enough assistance to cover their expenses. Nationally, 58% of students receive financial aid, yet 38% of all students still fear they don’t have enough funds to cover their current semester.

Lehigh students have long lamented the lack of transparency in the tuition breakdown. However, as tuition continues to increase, the seemingly never ending list of fees becomes more baffling.

Students pay these fees from the moment they apply — $75 to submit an application — until the moment they graduate — $86.98 to rent a cap and gown.

The rising costs of private institutions persist because wealthy families remain willing to pay top dollar for their children to have access to luxury amenities. From high-quality food and dorms to small class sizes, these families will pay extra for it.

This is why private, nonprofit institutions’ spending on updates — to facilities, career centers, the latest technologies and other luxuries — increased 58% between 2010 and 2023. Meanwhile, spending on instructional staff only increased 17%.

While this funding may go toward things like technology, food and student activities, each of these services still carries its own hidden fees. Further, for academics, Lehigh, known as an engineering school, charges an additional $415 fee each semester for students enrolled in the College of Engineering. Architecture and arts students also face lab fees of about $100 for each of their courses.

The day to day costs of living on campus, specifically from food to laundry, also compound over time.

First-years and sophomores are required to pay for a meal plan at Lehigh, which ranges from $1480 to $3900. The meal swipes provided in these meal plans, however, do not roll over from semester to semester. The large gaps between the smallest plan and the largest plan, with few options in between, leave students wishing there was a cost effective middle ground.

Similarly, laundry in residence halls can add up over time, with washing machines charging $2 per load and dryers costing you an additional $1.50. Depending on how many semesters you live on campus, what may seem like a small fee at first can quickly accumulate. Students using GoldPlus to pay for their laundry can only add money to the card in $10 increments, which becomes useless after graduation.

Brown University’s Office of Residential Life recently made laundry at the college free after years of students voicing their concerns of being financially burdened. Similarly, Dartmouth College removed laundry fees after students advocated for change.

Josh Keniston, vice president of Campus Services at Dartmouth, said lifting this undue burden on students was made possible by installing more efficient laundry machines and covering the cost of running them by using pre-existing housing charges.

While most private institutions are loading up on these add-on fees, others have implemented cost-saving measures such as free cap and gown rental programs for all students and free laundry.

A college education is increasingly important for financial success, and the caliber of that education also matters. As a result, students often find themselves accepting tens of thousands of dollars of debt to attend an institution like Lehigh.

If Lehigh’s administration was more transparent as to why these fees are necessary in maintaining the level of education it provides, maybe the confusion and frustration from students would wane.

However, until proven otherwise, it seems as though arbitrary tuition increases and additional fees are the result of lavish, unnecessary, over the top renovations, and a vague and confusing strategic plan.