"Tuition revenue pays for most of the cost of operating the university and maintaining our academic programs," said President Edward A. Parrish in a letter to the parents of all current undergraduates. "This percentages is similar to, if not lower than, those announced by the majority of our competitors. And for many of our students, financial aid, including the more than $1 million in merit-based scholarships that WPI will make available to entering freshmen for the first time next year, will make the cost of attending the Institute even more affordable." In his letter, Parrish pointed out some of the ways the university uses tuition dollars, as well as funds from other sources, to make WPI an outstanding place. "This summer alone, we will spend nearly $7 million to improve our campus facilities," he said. "Specific projects include the conversion of West Street into an attractive pedestrian mall that will unite the east and west halves of campus and make it a great deal safer for students to get about. We will also fully renovate Sanford Riley Hall, our oldest residence hall. The renovation will produce a modern, comfortable living environment with new amenities like student lounges on every floor, new furnishings for all rooms and an elevator for handicap access. This project will mark the start of a five-year refurbishment program that will restore nearly all of our larger on-campus residence facilities."
Parrish identified several other research, teaching and student milestones, including a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation (to be matched by contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations) that will provide for the renovation this summer of much of Salisbury Laboratories the recently completed renovation and expansion of Higgins Laboratories; the establishment of a new undergraduate major in biomedical engineering, a major program in international studies, new minor programs in several disciplines; new "interface" programs in areas like entrepreneurship, environmental policy and development, pre-health and pre-law, technical, scientific and professional communications, theater technology and industrial engineering; the Global Perspective Program; the national and international recognition of faculty members, including a department head who flew in space, a White House Fellow, a National Science Foundation Young Investigator, two NSF Early Career Development Award winners and another professor who announced the development of a new strain of mouse that may help in the fight against Alzheimer's disease; and the success of WPI graduates - so far, more than 83 percent of the members of the Class of 1995 who registered with the Career Development Center have been placed in jobs or graduate school.
"The cost of attending an outstanding university like WPI is high, but that cost buys the outstanding programs, facilities and services that make WPI one of the finest private institutions in the nation," says Parrish, who stressed the Institute's commitment to continuing "to build on that excellence to assure that our students receive the best preparation possible for rewarding careers and lives."
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