An Analysis of Fees and Tuition at Psychoanalytic Institutes

This project was initiated when the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, Inc., undertook to review its financial status. The increase in enrollment (sixty-three at present), together with the general increase of living costs led to higher expenses. To meet the deficit in the past the membership of the Society was indirectly assessed; i.e., funds were transferred from the account of the Society to that of the Institute annually as such funds were needed. The other analytic institutes were probably faced with similar economic problems. The fact that most universities were forced to increase their tuition rates reflected the general economic situation.

In order to obtain a broad background and benefit from the experiences of other institutes, questionnaires were sent to each institute. All the institutes were most cooperative, even though the gathering of this data represented considerable time and effort. One representative of an institute indicated that “we were as bad as the graduate students who want to come over to their office and write their Master's theses.” Mrs. E. J. Gordon, our executive secretary, compiled the data in chart from, which portrays a more graphic picture of the differences and similarities in the various items. In view of the expense of printing such charts, the following informal summary is presented under these headings: (1) Analysis of financial structure; (2) Analysis of fees and tuition; and (3) Analysis of loans and scholarships.

Except for the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, Inc., in which the Society and Institute have been incorporated as one organization since July 2, 1947, all other institutes are distinct and separate from their societies. Some of the institutes have become affiliated with universities (Chicago and the Psychoanalytic Clinic for Training and Research at Columbia) and as a result their financial policies may diverge considerably, being more closely patterned