Undergraduate tuition will rise by 3 percent next academic year, bringing the cost of tuition to $72,000, officials announced in a release on Friday.
The increase will bring GW’s estimated total cost of attendance to $95,155 for new students and $98,165 for returning students during the 2026-27 academic year — a $2,810 increase for new students and a $2,740 rise for returning students. The annual fees, which include tuition, room and board, transportation and other fees, will increase from $390 to $420, and the base price of housing and dining will rise $560 from $17,600 to $18,160, according to the release.
Students’ U-Pass fee will increase by $15, rising from $100 to $115 per semester. The base residence hall room rate price now sits at $11,440 — up $140 from this academic year — while the dining rate will increase $420 dollars to sit at $6,720 for the academic year, according to the release.
All undergraduate students must live on campus for their first two years, and all students living on campus are required to purchase a meal plan.
Officials have raised GW’s tuition every year since 2019, when the Board of Trustees ended the University’s long-standing fixed tuition policy, which guaranteed students an unchanged rate for up to 10 consecutive semesters. Since then, officials have raised GW’s tuition by 2.1 percent in 2021, 3.9 percent in 2022, 4.2 percent in 2023, 4.2 percent in 2024 and 3.5 percent in 2025, making the 3 percent increase this year the lowest since 2021.
Three of GW’s peer schools have updated their tuition prices for the next academic year as of Friday, with New York University rising at least $2,954 and the University of Rochester climbing $2,720. The University of Southern California’s tuition will reach $75,384 next year — a $2,124 rise from this year.
