In an email to the college on March 2, President Manya Whitaker announced that Colorado College’s comprehensive fee will rise 3.72% for the 2026-27 academic year.
The Campus Budget Committee (CBC) has increased the comprehensive fee, which consists of tuition, room, board and mandatory fees, to $93,590 for next year from $90,230.
“This reflects a moderated increase relative to recent years, the result of careful cost management and disciplined stewardship of institutional resources,” Whitaker wrote in her email. “Our goal is to balance affordability with sustained investment in the distinctive elements of the CC experience.”
The higher comprehensive fee was set by the CBC, a group of faculty, students and cabinet members that make budget recommendations for the next year to Whitaker, who then sends back revisions. Whitaker said she asked the CBC to keep the tuition increase at 3.5%, but appreciates that they “stuck near” that goal, increasing tuition by 3.72%.
In her presentation “Demystifying the Comprehensive Fee,” Whitaker noted that when CC under-enrolls an incoming class, the school has less money to spend in a given year because fewer students are paying tuition.
The Class of 2028 was under-enrolled by roughly 40 students, as reported by The Catalyst, leaving the college $3.3 million short of what the college’s financial office had hoped for.
“Having an even lower comprehensive fee increase decreases the amount of revenue we will have,” said Whitaker.
Lower enrollment affects the school’s finances throughout the class’s time at CC. “That impacts the next year’s fiscal landscape,” said Whitaker. “We don’t magically make up for it when they become sophomores.”
Whitaker is cognizant of how rising tuition could affect students and said that the Board is working to keep the comprehensive fee below six figures.
“We’re not trying to be reactive, we’re trying to be proactive and forward thinking,” said Whitaker. “What can we sacrifice? How can we change the way we do business so that we don’t have to keep raising student fees?”
For the upcoming school year, tuition increased from $73,566 to $75,702. The price of a traditional double room has gone from $9,288 to $9,616 and the meal plan increased from $7,376 to $7,744. The student activity fee, set by CCSGA, remains the same at $528.