The AU Board of Trustees winter 2024 meeting focused on four top university priorities—our work to support a safe community and a sense of belonging for our students, the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) financial aid and tuition budget, the Change Can’t Wait campaign, and the search for AU’s 16th president. And our meeting concluded with a transformative moment for our community and our campus—the groundbreaking for the Alan and Amy Meltzer Center for Athletic Performance.

Supporting a Safe Community and a Sense of Belonging for Our Students

Like many universities, our community has been challenged by global events and incidents on our own campus. President Burwell, the trustees, university leaders, and campus representatives discussed the four main areas of action to support our community, which include:

• Creating educational opportunities to help our community learn about confronting hate, such as the PERIL training for AUx2 students and instructors and this Sunday’s event at the AU Museum featuring a screening of A Pocketful of Miracles: A Tale of Two Siblings;
• Advancing inclusive excellence by incorporating work on antisemitism and Islamophobia in ways they previously have not been and creating new tools to help support a sense of belonging for all community members;
• Reviewing our policies and procedures to ensure that we have the appropriate balance between protecting public safety and facilitating free expression; and
• Engaging the AU community—including meetings with students, faculty, and staff—to hear perspectives and suggestions related to this important work.

FY25 Financial Aid and Tuition

One of the trustees’ primary responsibilities is advancing the financial health of the university, now and into the future. A core element of this fiduciary duty is reviewing and approving the university budget. We are committed to a budget that supports key goals—providing an affordable and accessible AU education for our students, addressing the importance of cost to our students and families, supporting student thriving throughout the AU experience, and investing in our people through financial aid, compensation, benefits, and a vibrant community.

At this meeting, we approved the first part of the university’s FY25 budget, which includes financial aid, tuition, housing and meal plan costs, and mandatory student fees. This portion of the budget produces our net tuition revenue, which is the total gross revenue we collect from tuition minus the institutional financial aid investments we make. The net tuition revenue is the largest source of revenue in our budget and thus drives our overall investment and spending approach. We are taking a two-part approach to the budget to provide timely information to our community. The second phase of the budget process will occur at our April meeting and will include our ongoing investments in compensation and benefits for our people and our work to build AU’s future through our strategic initiatives and investments. We will provide another update to the community on the budget, including compensation and benefits, following that meeting. The key elements of the first phase of the FY25 budget include:

Financial Aid—We are investing in financial aid to support an affordable and accessible AU experience for our students. The total financial aid investment will increase by 4.9 percent, rising to $142,968,000 next year. This is nearly a $7 million increase over the FY24 financial aid budget. We will increase average financial aid per student by 5.8 percent, which exceeds increases in tuition and total cost of attendance. The financial aid investment moves our discount rate up to 33.1 percent (from 32.5 percent in FY24 budget).

We increased financial aid available from the institutional budget and from fundraising through the Change Can’t Wait campaign, where we have raised $43.9 million to create or expand 155 scholarships.

Tuition—We know that tuition levels and affordability are critical to our students and families and these concerns are central to our decision-making. For FY25, undergraduate tuition will increase by 4 percent. Tuition levels directly support our ability to expand financial aid. The tuition change is lower than the previous two years and lower than announced increases at many of AU’s peer institutions. Graduate tuition will increase by 4.1 percent. AU’s per credit hour graduate tuition rates will remain lower than many of our competitors, including other DC universities, based on currently published information. WCL tuition will increase by 4 percent per year.

On-Campus Housing, Dining, and Other Student Fees—We made significant investments in the past two years to provide housing and dining opportunities that support student thriving and meet the needs of our community. Housing and dining fees in the FY25 budget will support the continued growth and quality of our on-campus amenities.

• Undergraduate on-campus housing costs will increase 4.5 percent (an average increase of $518 per year). With Leonard Hall renovated in 2023 and McDowell Hall scheduled to be renovated this summer, we offer modern living experiences across our residence halls.
• Dining fees will increase 8 percent (an average increase of $449 per year) to support the significant expansion and enhanced quality of our campus dining options. The first full renovation of TDR in 40 years will be complete for the fall semester. New dining options came online this year with Qdoba and Panera and existing options in the Tunnel were renovated. Even with the increase for next year, AU’s dining costs are still below the average costs this year at our DC peer institutions.
• Mandatory student fees (e.g., student activities fee, U-Pass, technology fee, etc.) will remain at this year’s levels.

The total undergraduate cost of attendance (tuition, housing, dining, and fees) will increase by 4.3 percent or approximately $3,194 per student. The increase in average financial aid per student is significantly higher and will help provide students with an affordable AU education. The University Budget Office will publish the updated tuition schedule soon and a fact sheet is available on the university budget website.

Creating the budget involves extensive input and collaboration from our community, including the University Budget Committee; forums with students, faculty, and staff; submissions from each of our schools, colleges, and departments; and review of the proposed budget by the Finance Committee and the full Board of Trustees, including the faculty and student trustees. On behalf of the trustees, I want to thank all the community members who worked diligently to help craft a budget that is focused on our strategic priorities and centered on our community.

Change Can’t Wait Approaches the Finish Line

We are closing in on the successful completion of the transformative $500 million Change Can’t Wait campaign. As of March 1, we have raised $464 million, just $36 million away from our goal. When we first projected the campaign target nearly seven years ago, it was believed that $450 million would be a stretch. As we exceeded that marker and on are our way to $500 million, it is the determination, commitment, and generosity of the AU community that propels us forward. Over the coming months, we will be racing to the finish line to help the impact of the campaign support generations of AU Eagles to come.

Search for AU’s 16^th President

Over the past several months, the presidential search committee and our partners at Russell Reynolds assembled and engaged a talented and impressive pool of candidates to be AU’s 16th president. The quality of leaders interested in American University reflects the strength of our academic mission, our extensive impact, and the strength of our community. Trustees have met with several candidates and continue to progress the exciting search for AU’s next president.

Alan and Amy Meltzer Center for Athletic Performance Groundbreaking

The trustees and members of the university community officially broke ground on the Alan and Amy Meltzer Center for Athletic Performance. The Meltzer Center is a core piece of AU’s $109 million investment in the Student Thriving Complex, which is the largest investment in student thriving in the university’s history. Building on improvements already completed in the Tunnel, new space for the Academic Support and Access Center in Butler Pavilion, and ongoing renovations in Mary Graydon Center, the Meltzer Center will become a new hub of community wellness, gathering, and athletics and recreation. It is also a hallmark of the impact and progress made possible by the Change Can’t Wait campaign.

I want to extend our deepest gratitude to Alan and Amy Meltzer for their generous and longstanding support for American University and their commitment to this transformative opportunity for our students. I also want to thank Jack and Denise Cassell and the Bender Foundation, Inc. for their foundational gifts that helped make the Center for Athletic Performance a reality. Here is a photo from this exciting event.

Best wishes for a successful semester and continued impact through our scholarship, learning, and community engagement. The Board of Trustees will next meet on April 5, 2024, to complete the FY25 budget and then on May 16-17, 2024, for our regular spring meeting.