The price tag for a year at Lafayette College will soon exceed $90,000, the college announced in an email sent to families last Friday. The Board of Trustees passed a 6% cost of attendance increase for the 2026-27 school year at its December meeting.
The hike in tuition and fees will bring the cost of attendance to $91,742, the largest percentage increase in 10 years.
“It’s an acknowledgement of how special this education is,” College President Nicole Hurd said. “While I’m always conscious of cost, I do believe in what we’re doing on this campus.”
The email to families did not cite a reason for the increase.
In the years that Lafayette’s senior class has been on College Hill, the cost has increased by $15,788 — more than 20%. Nine of the past 10 years have seen a price increase.
Trustee meeting notes obtained by The Lafayette detail a 45-minute-long discussion followed by a “non-unanimous vote” on the increase, which was recommended by the board’s committee on financial policy, a group that includes alumni, faculty and student representatives. During the discussion, a key justification was that Lafayette’s cost of attendance is lower than that of its peers.
Several trustees did not respond to requests for comment.
Among the 24 private liberal arts schools to which Lafayette often compares itself on salary and academic measures, Lafayette had the lowest price tag this academic year, and the second lowest for the four years prior. Harvey Mudd College, located in southern California, had the highest cost, with a sticker price of more than $96,500 for the current academic year.
Most of Lafayette’s peers have not yet announced tuition for the next academic year. Most Lafayette families do not pay full price to attend the college.
Where is the money going?
Lafayette’s finances rely primarily on income from tuition and fees, with the cost of attendance making up roughly 65% of its annual revenue, according to the college’s most recent tax documents. The rest of the revenue comes from the college’s endowment, grants and donations.
In previous years, Lafayette has cited inflation as the primary reason for increases; next year’s cost of attendance increase outpaces the 2.7% inflation rate in 2025 by 3.3 points.
Roughly 38% of Lafayette’s annual expenses are allocated to salaries, though student grants and campus maintenance make up another big chunk. Hurd alone took home more than $1 million in compensation during the 2023-24 fiscal year, according to tax documents.
Hurd said the most recent cost of attendance hike wasn’t an “issue of more dollars,” but an “issue of where the market is,” when asked where the money would go.
She also noted a continued commitment to keeping Lafayette affordable, citing the college’s guarantee of a loan-free education for families earning less than $200,000 and an increase in financial aid to match the cost uptick.
“It’s a lot of money that we’re asking people,” she said in the interview. “But for a school that meets 100% of need, that means we’re spending a lot of dollars to make sure that our students have the financial resources to come here.”
Hurd, who founded and served as the CEO of a college access nonprofit before coming to Lafayette, emphasized that the sticker price of higher education often gives people “a lot of shock.”
“I would just ask people, look at the net price as opposed to the sticker price, because the net price is actually a lot less,” she continued.
This article was updated on Jan. 30 to include additional information and quotes.
Alum Pard 10 • Jan 27, 2026 at 8:14 am
Lafayette not quite a leader. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Dartmouth President Sian Beilock wrote:
“Assuming that most Americans value our mission is a recipe for irrelevance and decline. We must demonstrate to students and families—and to the broader public—that we’ve heard their criticisms and will address them.”
Five steps:
1. “Make college affordable”
2. “Return on investment matters…there must be an undeniable return.”
3. “Re-center higher education on learning rather than political posturing.”
4. “Emphasize equal opportunity, not equal outcomes.”
5. “Testing is important.”
Which way Lafayette?
Petrea Marchand • Jan 25, 2026 at 12:53 pm
Thank you for this well-written and thoughtful article! As a Lafayette parent and a policy analyst by trade who works with administrators, I too noticed the increase outpaces inflation and there was no reason in the letter sent to us. I believe as parents and students we should have access to a summary of the Trustee’s discussion and understand why Lafayette College decided to increase tuition above inflation. But meanwhile, I am heartened by such an excellent analysis of the issue. Kudos to the authors!