Dear La Salle Community,

As I look out the window from my office in College Hall, watching our students gather in chairs, hammocks, and loungers under sparkling string lights on the Hansen Quad, I realize it has, indeed, been a fall to remember!

In September, we launched our refreshed brand, marketing campaign, and new tagline, “Explorers are Never Lost.” La Salle’s commitment to supporting students as they ‘blaze their own path’ has resonated deeply with prospective students and their families. Our students have enthusiastically embraced this new tagline, and there is a growing trend of the ‘Chevron Compass’ symbol popping up on jewelry, clothing, notebooks and footwear—even tattoos!

September also marked the start of implementing 15 initiatives adopted by the Board of Trustees from our Strategic Program Prioritization process ranging from institutional learning outcomes to a new academic core curriculum and the De La Salle Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning. And we continue to move forward with a number of transformational upgrades to our main campus. Please visit soon to see some beautiful new and renewed spaces!

Details of La Salle’s 21st-century renaissance are included in this edition, and I encourage you to learn about the exciting steps your alma mater is taking to position the University for continued success in a challenging higher education environment.

One of those giant steps is to reset La Salle’s undergraduate tuition by almost 30 percent next fall from $40,400 to $28,800—a level not seen since 2008. Under An Affordable Path for All, all incoming and returning students will see a meaningful savings  in their out-of-pocket costs, and those paying full tuition will  see savings of $11,600. La Salle is one of about 50 universities nationwide to reset its tuition. This follows the current year’s tuition freeze, a decision that recognized the extent to which our tuition model is truly broken in this country.

La Salle has a longstanding commitment to providing access to higher education for students of promise, a commitment that has led us to provide financial aid to approximately 95 percent of our students in recent years.

So why is La Salle taking a leadership position on college affordability? College costs have increased by 1,120 percent in the last 30 years, an unsustainable rate. And then there is the issue of “sticker shock.” Like many universities, La Salle has a listed tuition price that very few actually pay. At the same time, this “high tuition/high discount” model turns away many students and their families who are unaware that net tuition is typically negotiated after the letter of acceptance arrives. I was surprised to learn that the average time to pay off a bachelor’s degree in this country is 21 years, and that the average debt load nationally for graduating students in 2016 was a whopping $37,172.

The current system is neither transparent nor accessible, and must change if we are truly committed to the belief that education is a common good that should be reasonably available to all. To me, this seems a perfect space in which La Salle can continue to express its role as a leader in higher education.

Not only does inflated tuition serve to confuse and prevent prospective students from seeking higher education, but it is also the root cause of both student loan default rates and reduced retention rates, leaving students in the doubly vulnerable position of debt without a degree.

Like all persistent and complex problems, solving for high tuition will not come easily or quickly. Making college more affordable will involve tackling issues such as decreasing operational costs; cutting programs, academic and co-curricular, that are underperforming and/or no longer relevant; encouraging students to graduate in four years or less; enhancing governance structures; increasing paid internships; maximizing use of facilities; and more. Universities must take a page from the business world, and manage expense ratios to maintain market competitiveness and financial sustainability.

La Salle has made great strides this semester and we have much to be grateful for as we continue to move in the right direction for this incredible institution. I can assure you that we have all the right pieces and people in place to continue to achieve our noble mission.

Thank you for all that you do to support La Salle and please accept my best wishes to you and your families for a blessed 2017.

Sincerely,

Colleen M. Hanycz, Ph.D. President