Dartmouth is expected to pay an additional $1.8 million in energy costs this fiscal year due to rising oil prices, according to the College’s Facilities, Operations and Management office. Fuel will cost Dartmouth an average of $75 a barrel, up from last year’s average of $54.50, according to FO&M associate vice president John Gratiot.
“We buy 120,000 barrels of oil a year,” Gratiot said. “For every dollar the price of fuel oil goes up, the average over the course of a year costs the College about $120,000.”
Rising oil prices, through their impact on the stock market, have lowered the College’s projected earnings from the investment of its endowment, however, Keller said. This investment is one of the College’s most important sources of revenue, Keller added, so a sluggish market could eventually lead to increased tuition.
While the College’s admissions office has yet to see a decrease in visitors following the rise in fuel prices, Dartmouth employees will monitor the number of prospective students that visit in the coming months, according to Maria Laskaris, dean of admissions and financial aid.
“We usually have about 20,000 prospective students in the summer and early fall, and we are definitely thinking about what the consequences of the rising fuel prices might be on prospective students and their families,” Laskaris said.