College to

Include Textbooks In Tuition

By Elizabeth Troutman DC Correspondent

Hillsdale students will skip the semesterly search for the lowest textbook prices starting fall 2023 as the college will begin including class materials in the price of tuition.

“Students and their parents will no longer need to spend time and energy tracking down every book for their classes,” said Doug Banbury, Hillsdale’s vice president for admissions and business development.

“No more navigating discount sites and Amazon — simply register for classes and your books will be ready for you prior to the start of class.”

Funding for the new plan will come from a series of tuition increases of less than 1% per year. The program plans to implement a $900 rise in tuition in the fall after four to seven years of increases of no more than $300 each, said Matt Hazelton, director of staff & operations for business development.

“If you were to buy every single book for all of your classes, at full retail price, from the bookstore, it would cost something like $1,400 on average a year,” Hazelton said. “If you do that through this program, it's something like $800-900, so there are definitely discounts in that sense per student.”

Including textbooks in tuition creates more payment options for students, according to Hazelton.

“Having it embedded in the tuition makes it eligible for scholarships and loans in a way that you currently couldn't do with your textbooks,” he said.

To implement the program, the college will partner with textbook provider Slingshot, which has served more than 40 colleges for the last 12

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Admissions accepts fewer transfer students

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Circulation Manager

Twelve students joined Hillsdale College for the spring semester, a number slightly lower than previous years, Admissions Counselor Ben Strickland said.

“We're restricted by the number of beds that we have and the space that we have,” Strickland said.

While the number of transfer students usually is in the high teens, the acceptance rate remained at around 15%, consistent with previous years.

“As the fall term applicant pool has gotten more competitive, so has the spring term applicant pool,” Senior Director of Admissions Zachary Miller said. Miller said he has seen some increase in the number of applicants who previously applied to Hillsdale and were either accepted and decided not to attend or denied. While the number of students accepted is lower than one may expect, Strickland said spring admissions are different than general fall acceptance.

“We're basically admitting people who were almost definitely going to come rather than someone who might come if they get enough scholarship,” Strickland said.

The students represent 10 different states from across the country: Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin.

“Our new students are really completely spread across the entire United States,” Strickland said.

Transfer student and sophomore Luca Vitale said he decided to attend Hillsdale because of the classical curriculum and various opportunities on campus. While the acceptance rates continue to remain low, interest in Hillsdale continues to increase. Miller said over the last two to three years, interest in both the fall and spring semesters have grown.

“It's a lot of factors, but probably the thing that's driving it the most is the fact that Hillsdale remains true to what it is in providing students with a great classical liberal arts education,” Miller said. “I think that's something that's becoming more and more of a rarity today across the country.”

Strickland agreed that Hillsdale presents consistent education for students, www.hillsdalecollegian.com

Radio Free Hillsdale triples yearly downloads

By Lauren Scott Assistant Editor

“The Radio Free Hillsdale Hour,” Hillsdale College’s national radio show, surpassed 1 million downloads in 2022.

The weekly show features interviews with Hillsdale faculty and staff, friends of the college, and sometimes alumni and students, said Scot Bertram, host of the show and general manager of Radio Free Hillsdale.

The 1.2 million downloads in 2022 nearly tripled its 430,000 downloads in 2020, Bertram said.

“The numbers keep rising because we have an engaged audience that enjoys the show and frequently shares the audio with others,” Bertram said.

The audience can better understand the education at Hillsdale College from listening to the conversations and debates on “The Radio Free Hillsdale hour,” according to Bertram.

which, according to him, other schools struggled with during the pandemic. Strickland said schools have changed since students committed to a college.

“A lot of people found out that the place that they applied to and were at changed over their four years,” Strickland said.

Whatever the case may be, Strickland said Hillsdale remained true to its purpose and mission during the pandemic.

“I think we just have a greater, deeper, and stronger foundation that we are really proud of and that we hold to; whereas, other places are sort of letting the current thoughts and times kind of judge their decisions,” Strickland said.

“The show was created to advance the efforts of Hillsdale College in radiating its knowledge and teaching to the world outside of campus,” Bertram said.

The show is captivating because of the seemingly endless topics, said Brad Birzer, professor of history.

“It would be a crime if the show weren’t popular, especially given Scot’s dedication and tenacity,” Birzer said.

Birzer said he has discussed many different topics on the show ranging from his vacation in Yellowstone to the deeper meanings of the War of 1812.

“Scot is an excellent reviewer and interviewer,” Birzer said.

“He knows exactly what to ask, in part because he’s done his homework and is incredibly well read and in part because he has a natural

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