Julia Garrison
News Editor
Vice president for finance and business and treasurer of the College, John David Jones, and Jason McGrath, vice president for enrollment management, co-signed an email sent out to students and families regarding increases in tuition for the upcoming 2025-26 academic year.
The breakdown includes tuition, housing, food and miscellaneous fees. The comprehensive fee –– set by the board of trustees –– has increased 4.5% from the year prior. Other Ohio liberal arts institutions in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) have also increased their comprehensive fees in recent years.
Denison University’s tuition increased by 5% this year, while Wittenberg University’s and Ohio Wesleyan University’s (OWU) stayed relatively low, tallying around 2% apiece.
The price of attending college has risen for a number of reasons, namely the COVID-19 pandemic. Many colleges across the United States are grappling with major financial losses suffered through the pandemic, resorting to utilizing their endowment and making extreme budget cuts. These cuts could continue to worsen under President Trump’s administration, which has recommended major budgetary cuts to federal funding for research and higher education funding.
In their message, Jones and McGrath shared that the overall cost of attending the College for the 2025-26 academic year would round out at $79,560 per academic year. There was a 4.3% increase in fees between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years — fees were raised to $76,130. This number is all-inclusive — when broken down, tuition accounts for $63,490 of that number, while housing rose to $7,460, food rose to $7,890 and fees rose to $720.
Although Kenyon and Oberlin’s 2025-26 academic year costs have not been shared, other liberal arts colleges in the area have released their numbers for the upcoming academic year, including Denison, Wittenberg and OWU. Denison’s comprehensive cost rose to $88,400, Wittenberg’s rose to $57,962 and OWU’s rose to $70,226. Although Wittenberg’s cost of attendance is low compared to other liberal arts institutions in Ohio, the University has been enduring intensive budget cuts and faculty layoffs. Wittenberg also eliminated many departments still considered integral at other institutions, such as major programs in music, education, German, Spanish, East Asian studies and their Chinese minor.
The comprehensive fee shared is without federal aid or merit inclusions, and students were advised to reach out to the financial aid office with questions or concerns.
A note: This article was modified from “per semester” to “per academic year.”
