Albrecht proposes increase
USU President Stan Albrecht approached faculty and students with his recommendation to increase Tier 2 tuition at the annual Truth in Tuition hearing held Thursday. The recommendation will be taken to the State Board of Regents.
After evaluating the current needs of the university, Albrecht said the Administration is asking for approval to raise Tier 2 tuition by 1.5 percent – the smallest increase since the creation of Tier 2 tuition in 2001.
An increase of 1.5 percent is $35.53 for a Utah resident student, and $114.39 for non-resident students, Albrecht said. The Board of Regents is expected to raise state tuition by 4.5 percent next year, making the overall cost of tuition increase by 6 percent.
Albrecht said the increase will apply to students on USU’s main campus, as well as those attending Regional Campuses and Distance Education and at USU Eastern. The money collected by Tier 2 tuition will total nearly $1.5 million, of which $498,000 will go directly to RCDE, and USU Eastern will receive $50,000.
Albrecht said the rest of the additional revenue will be divided between three areas at the Logan campus.
To continue the university’s Promotion and Tenure process, Administration needs $488,000. Another $125,000 will go toward library support and paying for subscriptions to electronic journals, to which students have full access. The remaining $332,500 will help with building Operation and Maintenance costs and increased health benefits for faculty, Albrecht said.
In a survey of 20 universities in the Western U.S., USU ranked 19th in total cost of tuition and fees. The only school to charge students less than USU is the University of Wyoming.
ASUSU President Erik Mikkelsen started the hearing by explaining the process that goes into changing tuition at public universities. He said student leaders have the first opportunity to suggest to Administration any changes that may need to be made using Tier 2 tuition funding.
However, because of increasing student fees, Mikkelsen said, ASUSU found no issues it considered pressing enough to raise tuition.
“As we were looking at Tier 2 tuition and considering proposals to make, we were seeing a lot of increases in student fees,” he said. “Because of that, as a student government, we decided not to bring anything forward on Tier 2 tuition from the student side. We don’t really want to increase the cost for students too much, especially in the wake of increasing fees.”
Albrecht said there are two types of tuition. Tier 1 is mandated by the State Board of Regents and is a consistent percentage across public colleges and universities across the state. Of tuition set by the state, at least 25 percent is required to go toward university employee salary. Money collected through Tier 1 is fed back through the state system.
Tier 2 tuition was created in 2001 and established entirely by the institution with the approval of the Regents, Albrecht said. That money does not go back to the state, but instead stays at each individual school for Administration to do what it deems necessary.
“Rather than those dollars feeding back through the system, they would remain at the institution,” Albrecht said. “This allowed us during a period of budget cutting to do some things that were critical to the integrity of our institution – hire faculty, work on advising and other kinds of issues.”
After students have the chance to make their suggestions, Albrecht said, the process moves to faculty and Administration. He said funding from Tier 2 tuition is generally used to cover six main areas. Classroom instruction costs, academic support, student services, student initiatives, base deficit reduction and library support are all paid for through this money.
For many students, low tuition is why they chose to attend USU and, for some alumni, why they miss being a student here.
Scott Ficklin attended USU for his undergraduate degree, which he received in 2010. He is now in his second year of law school at the University of Oregon, where he said a tuition increase meant paying an additional $3,000 this year.
“My tuition raised 10 percent this year, so I don’t feel bad for you guys,” he said.
Bailey McMurdie, a senior majoring in broadcast journalism, said she came to USU because it was significantly cheaper than paying for school at home in Connecticut.
“This is higher education. I expect to pay lots of money,” she said. “It’s not like I’m made of money or anything, but this isn’t shocking.”
Erin Jones, a senior majoring in fisheries and aquatic sciences, said she supports the increase, but she will be graduating this semester.
“School is expensive. Life is expensive. People should learn to deal with it,” she said.
The Truth in Tuition hearing was the final step needed for university Administration to continue the process before asking the Board of Regents for the increase.
– megan.allen@aggiemail.usu.edu