By Talia Isaacs, Business Editor
Yeshiva University prides itself on its five Core Torah Values: Torat Adam, Torat Emet, Torat Chaim, Torat Tzion and Torat Chesed. These very values initially drew me to YU as an institution; I couldn’t wait to be part of a network dedicated to these long standing, tried and true principles. However, I fear there is an unspoken, yet ubiquitously recognized, sixth value at play that sits at the top of the hierarchy: the value of profit, or, as I like to call it, Torat Kesef.
To start, let’s compare the cost of YU to other comparable universities. According to a Business Insider article from 2024, the average cost of college tuition for students attending out-of-state schools is about $30,000 per year, and significantly lower for students attending in-state schools. For those attending Ivy League Universities, the average cost is about $90,000 all-inclusive per year. Comparatively, with all costs included, YU tuition is nearly $73,000 per year – more than double what most students in the country are paying to attend out-of-state universities. While scholarships and financial aid are available to most students, the cost of tuition is much closer to that of an Ivy League university, but without many of the benefits that they have to offer.
One could argue that you can’t put a price tag on a Jewish environment and education, but the prospect of profit clearly trumps “Torat Chesed” here. Ideally, a Jewish institution should be charitable, considerate and prioritize Torah learning over money to be made. While YU does give out scholarships liberally, tuition is still extraordinarily high to begin with. Other comparable Jewish and secular institutions charge much less, but offer many of the same opportunities. What I really want to know is: Where is all this money going?
YU is an amazing institution, and I am by no means ungrateful for the opportunity to complete my undergraduate (and maybe even my graduate) education here. However, there is no question that the quality of education and amenities we receive do not justify the price, which exceeds the average American’s yearly salary. Even as a recipient of a very generous scholarship myself, my parents still pay well above the national average to send me here, and have explicitly told me they are delaying their retirement in order to be able to afford to send me to YU.
In addition to tuition, there are other, more secretive costs that are piled on top of the already expensive tuition fee. Required textbooks and supplies for classes, shabbatons, security fees, graduation fees and excessive meal plans all come with a hefty price tag. Some courses even require supplies that cost upward of a hundred dollars for just one class. Students who live on campus are required to purchase a meal plan that costs over $1,500 per semester, even if they rarely eat at the school cafeteria.
One of the most disappointing aspects of the Torat Kesef at YU is the credit requirements. It is nearly impossible to graduate on time, especially for students who took a gap year, and want to major or minor in an additional field of study. This is especially ironic because YU prides itself on many of its students finishing degrees in three years following their year of study In israel. At least on the Beren campus, students need one hundred twenty-eight credits to graduate, eight credits more than the standard one hundred and twenty required for a bachelor’s degree.
On top of this, most Judaic classes on the Beren campus only count for two credits per course, despite meeting for the same duration of time, the same frequency and assigning the same amount of work as secular classes, which count for three. For students who do attend seminary, they have to complete their degree in only three years while still taking two Judaics every semester. Additionally, students who do not attend seminary are required to take three Judaics per semester instead of two, which makes up half of their coursework. This leaves very little time to dedicate to their major, minor and the numerous general education requirements, not to mention extracurriculars and internships, which have become increasingly important for job and graduate school applications.
All of this contributes towards a common need for many students to “super senior” and stay an extra semester or two just to finish their undergraduate degree. This, of course, earns the university an extra year of tuition money, and the system is designed this way on purpose to maximize the amount of students whose graduations they can delay, and therefore get an additional semester or two of tuition from. Beyond this, students must also meet a residency requirement of a minimum of twelve credits in order to receive their scholarship. This means that students cannot take a lighter semester if they want to receive their scholarships, and they may have to take extra classes in order to qualify for their tuition break.
Part of the reason YU is able to get away with charging so much for tuition is the rhetoric surrounding Orthodox students attending secular college. In my high school personally (and I imagine at other yeshiva day schools across the country), attending secular college was extremely discouraged. We were told that not only would we face vehement antisemitism and anti-Zionism at non-Jewish schools, but that it would be almost impossible to remain frum in a secular environment. It is this pervasive idea that forces so many parents to dish out hundreds of thousands of dollars for their children’s higher education, because they believe it is the only option that will compel their children to stay religious.
It is also important to consider that many of the students attending YU not only have multiple siblings who will attend this university as well, but that their parents may very well have paid tens of thousands of dollars per year for their yeshiva tuition in high school. While high school tuition is taken into account when students apply for scholarships and financial aid, the pricing is still excessive and places a heavy financial burden on families. The accumulation of all this tuition can put many students and families into debt, and I fear that the benefits do not always outweigh the cost. Forcing families into debt under the guise of “keeping their kids frum” is certainly not a Torah value; transparency, accessibility and providing the highest quality education and infrastructure are.
Going forward, I hope we see the results of the money we are paying in our housing, academic buildings, amenities and quality of education. Until then, my question still remains: Where is all our money going?