Additional “hidden” fees in academic materials such as textbooks, software subscriptions, and laboratory instruments have always been a great concern of students, especially with the increasing cost of attendance at DePauw in the past years. According to the most recent expense breakdown on the DePauw website, these hidden fees are not included in the tuition fee, but in the “additional expenses” section at approximately $950 per student a year. This raises the question of whether or not these fees create academic inequity, especially for students from low and middle-income families.
