Budget Committee Chair and Associate Professor of Economics Bob Williams said that there will be an increase in tuition for next year.”Yes (fees) will go up,” said Williams during a question and answer session at a Community Forum held Nov. 4 in Bryan Auditorium.

“The school is almost maxed out in terms of the number of students,” said Williams. “We can’t increase enrollment much more so we do have to increase fees to cover higher costs.”

Randy Doss, vice president for enrollment services, said that tuition increases are almost inevitable for a school with only a small endowment.

Guilford pays about 80 percent of its yearly expenses with tuition income. The school’s small endowment and tuition-driven budget place its fees within national trends for all colleges and universities.

Sophomore Julia Fraser isn’t sure what higher tuition will mean to her but knows that, “anytime you hear about an increase, you worry that you won’t be able to pay.” Fraser has a way to duck high costs besides dropping out. She said that she could transfer to a state school in California where she is eligible for in-state tuition fees.

The College Board reported last month that private non-profit schools increased tuition an average of 4.4 percent this school year. Tuition increases for traditional Guilford students were higher than the national average for 4-year private colleges at 5.5 percent.

The higher tuition here came on top of an almost 6 pecent increase in 2008 and a 5 percent increase in 2007. Tuition for CCE students also increased in those years but by a smaller percentage.

Junior Austin Shriner said higher tuition would mean, “I’ll be a little thriftier.” He says he learned thrift when his mother was paying for college for his two older sisters.

Shriner considered state schools in Maine where he grew up but says, “Guilford’s financial aid makes going here about the same price as going to college back home.”

Sophomore Courtney Mandeville says, “I probably won’t notice a tuition increase. I’ll be aware that costs have gone up but I’ll see the difference after I get out of college with the amount of my loan.”

The probable 2010-11 tuition increase comes in spite of the recession.

Doss says the same economic factors that make it harder to pay for college also make it harder for colleges to operate without raising fees.