Undergraduate tuition to increase by 4.5% next year

Lehigh announced its cost of tuition will be increasing by 4.5% for the 2025-26 school year last month. This raises the cost of tuition to $66,810 and the total cost of undergraduate education to $86,100.

While the increase has been enacted to combat rising operation costs and inflation, administrators said the university is committed to providing financial aid to support students and their families navigating the rising costs of a college education. 

Jennifer Mertz, assistant vice provost of financial services and director of financial aid, said between 50% and 60% of Lehigh students receive some form of financial aid, with about 40% receiving financial need. 

Mertz said financial aid refers to the types of funding provided to students to cover the cost of tuition, while financial need is the difference between the cost of attendance and expected family contribution. She said beyond financial aid, other sources of financial assistance come from athletic and merit scholarships.

Mertz also said as the cost of tuition increases, financial need will increase, while most merit scholarships, aside from the Founder’s and Trustees’ Scholarships, will not. 

A presentation prepared by the Office of Finance and Administration and shared with The Brown and White stated the cost of tuition increases each year due to inflation, which results in an increase in expenses overall. However, it stated the college tuition inflation rate has stayed below the inflation rate since 2015. 

According to the presentation, the cost to educate a Lehigh student is $102,000 per year, but students only paid $82,220 for the 2024-25 school year.

In 2024, Lehigh allocated $154.1 million to financial aid, according to the university’s financial statements. This covers the equivalent of nearly 1,875 full undergraduate tuition costs.

Through the Lehigh Commitment, students whose families earn less than $75,000 a year are guaranteed to pay no tuition costs. Mertz said introducing an exact price threshold through the Lehigh Commitment makes it easier for prospective students to anticipate their financial commitment to Lehigh.

She also said Lehigh attempts to make the cost of education accessible to all students by sending emails, holding financial aid information sessions, visiting high schools and posting information about the Lehigh Commitment. 

“The bigger issue is getting (underrepresented and low-income students) to apply in the first place,” Mertz said. “We do a lot of outreach to show that education is affordable despite the price tag. Once they are admitted, the aid package is usually pretty generous.” 

If a student’s family contribution does not increase proportionally to the tuition increase, she said their financial aid package will cover the difference.

Chris Cook, the interim vice president of finance and administration, said financial aid is supported by the university’s $2.2 billion endowment, donations from donors and other students’ tuition dollars.

In 2024, tuition and fees were the largest revenue source for Lehigh. It composed 59.3% of the budget, according to the Office of Finance and Administration’s presentation. 

Cook said undergraduate financial aid will make up about 22% of the Lehigh operating budget for 2025. 

Despite uncertainty surrounding the U.S. Department of Education amid President Donald Trump’s attempts to dismantle the organization, Mertz said Lehigh would still be able to meet most students’ needs through financial grants, loans and merit scholarships.

Mertz said only a small portion of Lehigh’s budget is allocated to financial aid, so if the government were to eliminate the Pell Grant program, which helps low income students, Lehigh would lose some money, but not a lot. 

Mertz said the Pell Grant is currently not “on the table” to be eliminated, but “in the spirit of anything goes these days,” there are some speculations the program could one day be terminated.

Cook said one of the ways Lehigh works to offer a fair tuition price is through comparison to other universities. She said Lehigh compares its financial metrics to 15 schools that offer similar resources and education. Out of these 15 schools, Cook said Lehigh has the second lowest tuition price.

She also said Lehigh’s strategic plan includes cost-cutting measures and sustainability initiatives to reduce the size of future tuition increases.

“Our strategic plan includes the organization of the future to ensure we don’t have redundant systems that achieve the same goal,” Cook said.

She said multiple faculty and staff are involved in developing the strategic plan and the budgeting process, including a budget advisory group of six to seven people, who ask  questions and critique the budget to ensure it’s as fair and realistic as possible. 

Cook said this board consists of members of the Employee Relations Advisory Committee, faculty senate members and two to three other faculty. 

She also said the Board of Trustees Finance Committee does the final look-through and votes to approve the annual budget, which includes the cost of tuition.

In order to promote operational transparency among the Lehigh community, Cook said the Office of Finance and Administration piloted the “How Lehigh Works” program in fall 2024. She said this program was designed to give a cohort of students, staff and faculty a glimpse into the costs that keep Lehigh at its operating standards.

Wit Moore, ‘26, is one of two students who participated in the program.

Moore said it’s a six-session program that included an operational overview of the decision-making process behind the cost of tuition, facility capital budgeting, graduate courses, athletics spending and other financial spending.

He also said the program was insightful for Lehigh’s operational model, and the organizers of the program explained everything in an understandable way.

“They seem to be managing their money well,” Moore said. “The endowment fund is a testament to how well they have budgeted.”

The endowment fund is 14.6% of Lehigh’s annual budget, according to the Office of Finance and Administration data.

Moore said it would be beneficial if more students were aware of Lehigh’s financial strategies, especially those who might doubt the operational efficiency and allocation of tuition dollars.

For those interested in Lehigh’s spending and revenue sources, its consolidated financial statements are available to the public on the Office of Finance and Administration’s web page.