The Academic Affairs Committee’s Tuition Forum this Monday gave students a chance to ask deans and chancellors the $40,000 question: Why is tuition at Washington University so high?

“We’re looking to advance quality and try to identify areas where it would be rewarding to do so,” said Chancellor Mark Wrighton. “At the same time, we have to be sensible about the sticker price [of an education.] It’s not an easy task. The cost of excellence is high.”

Wrighton noted that students actually receive more resources than their tuition can cover due to endowments and personal gifts.

“Everyone’s getting a better educational environment than they pay for,” he said. “Our sticker price is lower than actual costs.”

The University largely bases its tuition on the tuition charged at competing schools, students’ family incomes and revenue needs. Last year, the University’s tuition was the 16th highest in comparison to the 24 schools with which it has the most application overlap. In terms of family income, tuition has been increasing as a percentage of family income but decreasing as a percentage of total family wealth.

Barbara Feiner, vice chancellor for finance and the University’s chief financial officer, outlined the process the University goes through beginning in the fall to determine the next year’s tuition. After a group of administrators look at all of the things they want the university to accomplish in the next year, they present their goals and the budget necessary to achieve those goals to the Finance Committee. The Committee uses the presentation to make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees, which then makes the ultimate decision regarding exact numbers. The process ends in January, when students receive a letter detailing tuition for the upcoming year.

Many students voiced concerns about the disproportionate amount of rising tuition fees used to pay contracted workers. Wrighton said he believes that the University is taking the right steps with its actions.

“I think we need to try to make advancements that benefit the university as a whole,” said Wrighton. “Procedures used in the past were good; they didn’t always take the lowest cost route in contracted labor. The higher quality of labor and larger number of services means a larger operating budget.”

Other students had more general questions about how the University spends its money.

“I wondered where all the money that I’m spending is going,” said sophomore Patrick Weaver. “I’ve never had a chance to go to something like this before, and [I wanted] to see what gets talked about.”

Freshman Ben Pasquier felt that the forum gave sufficient answers to such questions.

“I found it interesting how our financial aid is funded,” said freshman Ben Pasquier. “A large portion is funded through unrestricted revenue. Other universities are able to fund financial aid through endowment. I learned that since we have a large research medical school and a smaller endowment we can’t do those kinds of things. One of the big pushes in the end of this year’s campaign is to increase the endowment for financial aid, and they’ve been making large steps towards that. I think Washington University is making progress in the right direction.”

The tuition forum was planned by two Student Union senators, sophomore Joe Friedman and freshman Megan Beesley.

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