Soka University, an Aliso Viejo-based private liberal arts college, plans to cover the full tuition for students from families earning $200,000 or less per year, significantly expanding its financial aid program. This new threshold is more than double the university’s previous income limit for full coverage.
Edward “Ed” Feasel, president of Soka, stated the university aims to adjust to the current economic climate, noting, “Inflation has been a challenge all across our country.” He emphasized the goal to make education affordable and ensure that cost does not deter a capable student from attending Soka.
Students from middle-income families, who previously received partial aid, will now qualify for their entire tuition to be covered under this expanded plan. The baseline undergraduate tuition at Soka is currently $38,486, marking a 4% increase from the previous year. The rising cost of college has been a significant concern for families nationwide, with Education Data Initiative reporting that costs have increased 46.5% faster than inflation since 2000.
This expanded full tuition coverage is set to take effect in the 2027-28 academic year. Feasel attributed the initiative to increased donor support and Soka’s substantial endowment, which was last reported to be approximately $1.6 billion.
Under the new plan, students from families earning between $200,000 and $250,000 will receive half of their tuition covered, while those from families earning more than $250,000 will receive 25% coverage. Soka first introduced full tuition coverage for families earning $60,000 or less in 2008, raising the threshold to $90,000 in 2023.
Feasel highlighted that Soka’s program extends these benefits to international students, who comprise about half of the student body. He noted that an international campus community is crucial to the university’s mission of fostering global citizens, and financial aid helps attract these students. Currently, all 480 students at Soka receive some form of financial aid, with every admitted undergraduate student automatically receiving a merit scholarship regardless of family income.
This tuition announcement follows Soka’s acquisition of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, last August for an undisclosed amount. Feasel described it as “exciting that Soka now has campuses in Southern and Northern California.” The Monterey school, which Middlebury College had announced it was closing due to financial difficulties, will be renamed the Monterey Institute of International Studies at Soka University of America, with classes expected to begin in fall 2027.
Through this acquisition, Soka is retaining 10 in-person master’s programs, covering subjects from global policy to translation studies, as well as three online programs specializing in cybersecurity, localization project management, and sustainability. Feasel stated these programs align with Soka’s mission and indicated that building comparable programs from scratch could have taken decades. Soka currently offers a Master of Arts in educational leadership and societal change. While an MBA program is not currently offered, Feasel noted the Monterey campus had one until 2019 but ruled out its immediate return due to declining student demand.
Soka University opened its original campus in Calabasas in 1987, offering a graduate program in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, which evolved into its current master’s program. The university acquired 103 acres of land in Aliso Viejo in 1995 for its four-year liberal arts college, relocating its programs and graduate school to the new site in 2007.
The university’s enrollment has remained stable even as other colleges nationally face pressure to maintain student numbers. Soka has invested in its undergraduate offerings, including a new life sciences concentration and a dedicated 91,000-square-foot facility, Marie and Pierre Curie Hall, in 2020. This facility features five teaching labs and 14 research labs. Feasel commented that expanding into the sciences was undertaken “at the right time.” Unlike traditional research-based science programs, Soka’s life sciences concentration integrates biology, biochemistry, and chemistry with humanities, international studies, and ethics. Soka offers a single undergraduate major in liberal arts with students choosing from five interdisciplinary concentrations: environmental studies, humanities, international studies, social and behavioral sciences, and life sciences. While social and behavioral sciences, particularly psychology, tend to be the most popular, Feasel noted a significant interest in the life sciences this year.