Students at Washington University in St. Louis are finally getting their wish of a university-wide minimum wage increase for campus employees of $15 per hour. But the new policy comes alongside a pill that may be hard for some students to swallow.
In addition to an increase in the minimum wage, there will also be a substantial increase in the tuition paid by students attending Washington University during the 2019-2020 school year. According to an official announcement by university officials, undergraduate tuition at the university will increase by $1,850 to a total of $54,250 for the academic year.
In a letter to students, provost Holden Thorp assured students that the high tuition price was necessary to ensure that the university was meeting the desires of the students, while also enabling them to receive an “exceptional university experience.”
“We are able to fulfill our mission of providing an exceptional university experience inside and outside the classroom because of the tuition you pay,” wrote Thorp. “It also enables us to meet the financial needs of all of our students, a goal that remains one of our highest priorities,”
Earlier this year, members of the Washington University Graduate Workers Union protested repeatedly on the campus in an effort to lobby university officials into approving a massive increase in the minimum wage for campus employees, along with subsidized child care for children of the employees as well.
