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Indigenous Data Since 1920 FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 2025

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GU Raises Undergraduate Tuition, Cost of Attendance For Fourth Straight Year

Shira Oz

City Desk Editor

Georgetown University announced a 4.9% increase in undergraduate tuition for the 2025-26 academic year Jan. 9, marking the fourth consecutive annual tuition increase. Undergraduate tuition will increase to $71,136 for the new academic year from $67,824 this year. The total cost of attendance, including increases in room and board costs, will also rise by approximately 4.9% compared to last year’s rate. The university announced a 4.5% tuition increase last year, a 4.9% increase in 2023 and a 3.5% increase in 2022. The university also pledged to increase financial aid, having previously increased its financial aid budget by 8% to $285 million for the 2024-25 fiscal year. Interim Provost Soyica Diggs Colbert (COL ’01) and Executive Vice President of Health Sciences Norman J. Beauchamp, Jr., who announced the increase in a Jan. 9 email to the university community, said the increase accounts for rising costs and the resources needed for academic and student programs. “The tuition rate reflects a balanced approach to managing rising costs, as well as providing the resources needed for academic and student priorities, new programs and initiatives and our commitment to minimizing add-on fees,” Diggs Colbert and Beauchamp wrote in the email. Miranda Yarowsky (SFS ’26) said she questions whether the university is raising tuition to match inflation or rather to

fund the construction of new buildings such as the expanded Capitol Campus. “I think the tuition increase is getting a bit out of hand, especially as someone who started in 2022,” Yarowsky told The Hoya. “Every year they come out with a new email that says they’ve increased it by a pretty solid amount, and my only thought is, ‘Is this to reflect inflation in the United States, or is this a reflection of the increasing costs it takes to build the Capitol Campus and all the buildings downtown?’” Emily Dabre (SFS ’28) said she would support a tuition increase if the university also made an effort to improve its campus. “It’s a little odd that they have been pushing tuition increase every single year for so long, yet there is no real improvement in the facilities,” Dabre told The Hoya. “I would support a standard tuition increase if it were actually reflected in the student facilities.” The announcement said the university will consider adjusting student financial aid packages as necessary to accommodate the increase. “The university will continue to consider adjustments to financial aid packages when alerted to new family circumstances and to recruit deserving students regardless of their ability to pay,” Diggs Colbert and Beauchamp wrote. Jon Plummer (SFS ’27), a member of the Georgetown Scholars Program, a program that provides resources and support to first-generation and See TUITION, A7

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

Georgetown University announced a 4.9% increase in undergraduate tuition. Tuition for the new academic year will cost $71,136.

JACK WILLIS/THE HOYA

Georgetown University Interim President Robert M. Groves and Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff Joseph A. Ferrara (GRD ’96) discussed university concerns, including admissions, financial aid and the search for a new president in an interview with The Hoya.

Groves TalksAdmissions,Lawsuit,Presidency Evie Steele Editor in Chief

eorgetown University Interim President Robert M. Groves and Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff Joseph A. Ferrara (GRD ’96) denied allegations that Georgetown illegally colluded with other universities to raise prices for students and said the university admitted 30% fewer African-American applicants to the Class of 2028 than the Class of 2027 in an interview with The Hoya. Groves and Ferrara sat down with The Hoya Jan. 16 to discuss the current state of the university, including university admissions, the ongoing search for a new university president, the state of the Capitol Campus and plans to protect undocumented students. This is the first published interview with Groves since he took over from President Emeritus John J. DeGioia (CAS ’79, GRD ’95) Nov. 21 and the first time The Hoya has been granted a conversation with university leadership since 2023. Financial Aid Lawsuit In a Dec. 16 court filing, plaintiffs sued Georgetown and 16 other universities for $685 million in damages, alleging that the universities shared a financial aid methodology that reduced the amount of financial aid they provided prospective students. Ferrara denied the plaintiffs’ claims and said the university works

to admit diverse students annually. “We strongly disagree with the plaintiffs’ argument in this lawsuit, and we are doing everything we can to vigorously defend ourselves,” Ferrara told The Hoya. “We feel like we have behaved responsibly in our admissions processes.” “We are trying to compose a class, a diverse class, diversity in all senses of the word every year, socioeconomic diversity, geographical diversity, students who are interested in music, students from Ukraine, students who are athletes, and so that is our aim, in the context of our values,” Ferrara added. The lawsuit also claims that DeGioia created a “president’s list” of around 80 applicants every year after reviewing their financial background rather than their academic and extracurricular information, writing “Please Admit” on the list and sending it to the admissions office. The university ultimately admitted between 83% and 100% of the students on the president’s list annually. Ferrara said that DeGioia sought out these students and created any possible list with diversity, rather than wealth, in mind. “If Jack was mentioning a student to someone, he was never going to try to tell anybody who they should admit,” Ferrara said. “But the focus was not wealth, I can tell you that, and the focus was really on what is going to be the best possible option for

Georgetown to build a diverse, vibrant student body. Any list, or any development of people who might be interested in applying to Georgetown, came from that perspective, not from wealth.” Admissions Georgetown enrolled fewer students of color than in previous classes in the first admissions cycle without racebased affirmative action. While 49% of students enrolled in the current first-year class, the Class of 2028, identified as students of color, 53% of students admitted to the Class of 2027 identified as students of color. Groves said that the Supreme Court’s decision to end racebased affirmative action dramatically impacted the university’s admissions of Black students — though ultimately, an increased yield rate meant that only four fewer Black students enrolled in the Class of 2028 than in the Class of 2027. “Let’s just pick African American applicants, we actually accepted 30% fewer,” Groves said. “We weren’t allowed to know what their race was, but the yield on those accepted applicants was higher than in past years.” Groves attributed this increased yield rate to decisions to package financial aid based on College Board reports rather than the FAFSA form, which faced backlogs and delays, allowing the university to release financial aid offers earlier, and to reach out to

applicants early in the process. “We packaged financial aid based on the College Board reports on financial need and gave the acceptance and financial aid at the same time,” Groves said. “The second thing that we’ve done is to continue our process of reaching out to applicants to achieve the diversity goals we have, and to convince and to convey that Georgetown may be a place where they can feel like they’re a member of a community that’s supporting them.” Groves said he is not convinced that this higher yield rate is sustainable — potentially meaning that the university’s next incoming class could have an even lower number of Black students. “I’m not convinced. This is a constant struggle,” Groves said. “You know what has happened? The external world has changed. Our mission hasn’t changed. Our goals haven’t changed.” Groves said the university has begun formally considering students’ eligibility for Pell Grants, a federal grant to students demonstrating financial need, in its admissions process. In the Class of 2028, 15% of students are Pelleligible, while 8% of the Class of 2027 are Pell-eligible, according to Groves. “The observation that we were leaving on the table some low-income applicants, terrific students, because we didn’t know they were low-income, we were fully need-blind — we repaired that by sending from the financial See GROVES, A7

Board of Directors Names 12-Person Presidential Search Committee

Nora Toscano Senior News Editor

The Georgetown University Board of Directors named an official search committee Jan. 10 to identify candidates to serve as the next university president. The 12-person committee, consisting of professors, faculty, graduates and members of the board of directors assisted by search firm Isaacson, Miller, will be tasked with reviewing candidates and selecting the new president by July 1, 2026, according to an email to community members from board chair Thomas A. Reynolds (GSB ’74). The committee has received about 160 applications so far.

Reynolds said the presidential search committee will prioritize Georgetown’s Jesuit identity, leadership and community as it reviews candidates. “As we move forward, the Board of Directors has indicated that the position of the new President is to articulate and implement the University’s vision for excellence; to sustain the University’s strong Catholic and Jesuit identity in collaboration with Jesuit leaders; to foster a sense of community, shared purpose and collaboration among the University’s faculty, staff, students and alumni; and to ensure Georgetown continues its leadership in higher education on a national and global level, among other priorities,” Reynolds

wrote in the email. The search committee includes five Georgetown graduates: search committee chair Kevin Warren (GSB ’84), Suzanne Donohoe (COL ’92), W. Robert Berkley, Jr. (GSB ’95), Mannone Butler (GSB ’94, LAW ’99) and Frank McCourt, Jr. (CAS ’75). It also includes four professors: Paul Almeida, the dean of the McDonough School of Business; Kathleen Maguire-Zeiss, the chair of the neuroscience department; law professor Anupam Chander; and professor of Italian Nicoletta Pireddu. The remaining members of the search committee are Rev. Daniel Patrick Huang, S.J., Rev.

Ronald Mercier, S.J., and Jeanne Ruesch, a Georgetown parent who will serve as the committee’s vice chair. Berkley, Butler, Huang, McCourt, Mercier, Ruesch and Warren are all members of the board of directors. Notably, no current students will serve on the committee, though past Georgetown search committees, including the committee that selected current Interim President Robert M. Groves as provost in 2012, have included students. Ethan Henshaw (CAS ’26), the president of the Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA), said he thinks students should have opportunities to give the search committee input as they

NATALIE REGAN/THE HOYA

Georgetown University’s presidential search committee includes faculty, graduates, parents and members of the board of directors.

See SEARCH, A7

NEWS

OPINION

GUIDE

SPORTS

Honoring Jimmy Carter

Add Student Voices to Search

‘Babygirl’

Hoyas Beaten By Butler

A12/A11

Georgetown University students joined thousands of mourners in celebrating the life of former President Jimmy Carter.

The Editorial Board urges the university to include student representation in its newlynamed presidential search committee.

Despite lofty promises, Caroline Woodward (CAS ’27) argues “Babygirl” underdelivers on plot, structure and sexiness.

The women’s basketball team impressively held their own in a 63-53 loss against the Butler University Bulldogs.

D.C. Archbishop

Opinions Aren’t Enough

‘Perverts’ Looks for Brilliance

Hoyas Fall in New York

A10

Cardinal Robert McElroy, the Bishop of San Diego, will become the next Archbishop of Washington, D.C., beginning March 1.

Professor William Schlickenmaier (SFS ’01, GRD ’20) urges students to act on campus problems, not just write about them.

Nick Williams (CAS ’25) finds Ethel Cain’s new album “Perverts” intruguing with novel musical interludes.

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The men’s basketball team battled St. John’s University in a tight game before falling to their third consecutive loss.

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