Differences between Tiers explained
Tiers divide tuition and rank universities, but what does it all mean?
Celestial Starr Bybee, Associated Students of Utah State University executive vice president, said Tier I tuition is controlled by the state Board of Regents, and Tier II tuition is controlled by the university. Increases in Tier I tuition are controlled by the state and affect all state institutions. All the money from Tier I tuition goes back to the Board of Regents and is then dispersed throughout the state, and Utah State University often doesn’t get back what it deserves, Bybee said.
“They [the Board of Regents] can’t really see our needs. They do a lot based on formulas and new enrollment,” Bybee said.
On the other hand, Tier II tuition is controlled by the university. Increases in Tier II tuition are based on the needs of the university, and money generated in Tier II increases stays at the university. Bybee said Tier II tuition was instated because Utah universities did not feel they could rely on the state for what they need.
Last year the “Truth in Tuition” bill was passed by the state legislature and the Utah Student Association which requires universities to inform students exactly where their money is going when tuition increases. Bybee said President Kermit L. Hall has gone above and beyond the bill by not only informing students on where their money is going but also asking for their comments and feedback.
ASUSU passed an increase in Tier II tuition March 15. Bybee said one of the main jobs of ASUSU is to keep Tier I tuition low and make sure Tier II tuition goes where it should.
This year, Bybee said, senators from every college as well as President Hall and members of ASUSU wrote down their needs and ideas of where the money should go. Some of the main areas Tier II tuition will go to include: Increasing sections of bottle-neck courses, upgrading recreational equipment, hiring new faculty, expanding high-demand business and engineering programs, and enhancing USU’s libraries.
Bybee said over the next few years USU hopes to hire 21 new faculty members to combat the 26-to-one student/teacher ratio at USU which is higher than most of its peer institutions. The University of Utah’s student/teacher ratio is 14 to one. However, Utah State’s tuition is on average much lower than that of it’s peer institutions, Bybee said.
Tiers are not only used to divide tuition however. Tiers are also used by U.S. News & World Report to rank college’s and universities.
According to the U.S. News Web site (www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex.htm), schools are placed in categories based on whether the school is a research university or, a liberal arts college and location. Schools are then scored on academic excellence and compared to other schools in their area. The indicators used to measure academic excellence are “academic reputation; retention and graduation of students; faculty resources; student selectivity; financial resources; alumni giving; and (for national universities and liberal arts colleges) graduation rate performance,” according to the Web site.
Tier I universities are in the top 50 of their category and as the Tier number gets higher the ranking of the university is lower.
“Currently USU is a Tier III university according to U.S. News & World Report. We would certainly like to move up to Tier II and certainly would hate to slip to Tier IV,” Joyce Kinkead, vice provost, said.