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Preliminary tuition figures show 6
percent increase
$125 increment could be
added to ‘normal’ increase for new students
By Tom Cronin
URBANA – The tuition rate at UIS
is expected to rise by $112 per semester next year for full-time
undergraduate students who enrolled prior to this fall, based on
preliminary figures introduced at Thursday’s meeting of the
University of Illinois Board of Trustees.
Chester Gardner, UI vice president for academic affairs, gave a
presentation at the meeting that focused on the university’s
financial needs and their anticipated impact on tuition, fees
and financial aid for fiscal year 2006. The preliminary UIS
semester tuition increases of $112 – or 6 percent – for most
full-time undergrads, and $120 – or 7.1 percent – for continuing
graduate students, were included in the presentation.
University administrators plan to hear input on tuition rates over the
next few weeks before preparing some specific recommendations
for the board to vote on in January, Gardner said.
UIS Student Trustee Andrew Hollingsead said earlier this month that he
plans to seek student input on the issue after Thanksgiving by
sending a survey to every student and hosting a discussion
forum.
Degree-seeking undergrads who enrolled this fall will not see a tuition
increase because the Guaranteed Tuition Plan requires the
university to offer these students the same rate for four years.
Next year’s guaranteed rate, however, would be $285 higher than this
year’s rate – a 14 percent increase – under the preliminary
figures. The respective increases at the Chicago and
Urbana-Champaign campuses are $256 and $291 – both 9 percent
increases.
The preliminary 14 percent increase for UIS includes an increment of
$125 a semester, or $250 a year, Gardner said. The increment
would be added to the guaranteed rate each year until fiscal
year 2009, which would eventually increase tuition at UIS by
$1,000 more than the “normal” levels of increase, he said.
According to Gardner, the university began a surcharge program at UIUC
and UIC in 2001 that increased tuition by $1,000 so new faculty
could be hired. The surcharge program was never implemented at
UIS.
Gardner said that the “special
increment” for UIS is needed to build academic quality and
service programs, a sentiment that UIS Chancellor Richard
Ringeisen shared.
“We are determined to become one of the best small public universities
in this area, perhaps in this country, and we can’t do that and
continue to be one of the least expensive universities in terms
of tuition,” Ringeisen said. “We believe we are becoming U of I
quality – we always intended to – and we believe that it’s
important, in order to do that, that we start to catch up a
bit.”
Trustee Frances Carroll, however, said that quality should not
necessarily be equated with money, adding that minority
enrollment has decreased in recent years.
“Our mission in Illinois is to have affordable colleges and
universities,” she said. “So, I don’t think that we should treat
that lightly. Education for all people must be affordable.
Otherwise, they cannot attend.”
Gardner said that a UI education
is affordable for all students, even those from low-income
families, because of federal financial aid, the state Monetary
Award Program grants and the university’s MAP Supplemental
Financial Aid program.
According to UI President James Stukel, the university has been
committed during his presidency to making sure that no students
are denied admission because of financial need. Students from a
family of four with an annual income of $40,000 a year or less
do not have to pay tuition and fees, he said.
About 35 percent of UIS students pay no tuition and fees, compared with
roughly 30 percent at UIC and approximately 20 percent at UIUC,
Stukel said.
According to Gardner, the university has had to raise tuition at rates
higher than the level of inflation for the last three years
because revenue from the state has been lower than the inflation
rate.
But even with added tuition income, he said, the university had to
eliminate more than 800 class sections during these years
because the combined totals of tuition and state appropriations
were not high enough to cover the university’s costs.
Gardner said that he expects the
university’s costs for fiscal year 2006 to be about $47 million
higher than this year’s costs. Included in this increase would
be a salary program that would provide faculty members with
raises averaging 3 percent, he said.
To meet the university’s financial needs and raise tuition according to
the administration’s preliminary rates, which average $200 a
semester for full-time students, state appropriations would need
to increase by 2.7 percent, Gardner said. If state
appropriations increase by less than 2.7 percent – or if they
decrease or remain level – the university would need to
reallocate the difference, he said.
“We have already cut our
administrative and support services by 25 percent,” Gardner
said. “There is very little additional money that we can get
there. So if we have to reallocate, regrettably, it’s going to
fall largely on the shoulders of our academic programs. And what
does that mean? Reductions in class sections, reductions in
faculty, and teaching assistants.” |
