Ohio State trustees approve tuition and fees hike

COLUMBUS – The Ohio State University Board of Trustees has approved a plan to increase selected student fees, including graduate and professional student tuition and other fees for undergraduates, and earmarked an amount for new students to help fund student activities that enhance and improve the student experience.
Trustees approved the plan at their regular meeting on Friday (5/30).

“Ohio State continues to compete effectively with the top public universities in the country with respect to academic excellence. However, relatively low levels of state support means we are increasingly at risk of falling behind in providing students with a truly outstanding education,” William J. Shkurti, senior vice president for business and finance, told trustees. “The fee increases that we have called for will help the university maintain a competitive position financially.”

Instructional and general fees for graduate students will increase 9 percent, or $594 per year, for continuing students, and 9.7 percent, or $639 per year, for new graduate students, including an additional $15 per quarter to help fund student activities. Non-resident graduate students will pay an additional 6 percent surcharge, or $636 per year. The current annual resident graduate tuition of $6,612 is 3.2 percent less than the university’s benchmark institutions.

Tuition for students in the professional colleges -- dentistry, law, optometry, pharmacy and veterinary medicine and selected graduate programs in business and medicine -- will undergo a base increase of 6 percent and differential fee increases of varying amounts ranging from 2.5 percent to 6 percent in each of the colleges. The differential fee hikes above the 6 percent base will be used to improve services to those students inside and outside the classroom. The surcharge for non-resident professional students also will increase 6 percent.

For new undergraduates, $15 per quarter of the previously approved instructional and general fee will be earmarked for student activities. In three years, the student activity fee will be rolled in for all students, and is expected to generate approximately $2 million a year to promote outside-the-classroom activities that enhance student learning. A three-tiered structure for undergraduate tuition at the Columbus campus was approved by trustees last month. Trustees also previously approved regional campus undergraduate tuition and an undergraduate non-resident surcharge.

“Over half of the student activity fee will support campus-wide programming, such as concerts, films and other activities chosen by the Ohio Union Activities Board, a student group,” said William Hall, vice president for student affairs. “The fee will also provide funds for student organizations and student government, and discounted tickets for students to community cultural and entertainment events.”

The allocation of funds will be administered by the Council on Student Affairs, a subcommittee of the University Senate that is represented by students at the undergraduate, graduate and professional level. The fee is needed so that Ohio State students can have access to high quality, desirable events and activities. Most other universities have activity fees that support such programming.

“The lack of such a fee has made it difficult for student organizations and activities to operate at a level one would expect at a university of Ohio State’s size and academic quality,” Hall said. “Our students have strongly indicated that there is need for more and better entertainment and activity programming on campus and that they are willing to pay a modest fee to get that programming.”

Learning technology fees in the colleges of arts, business and nursing will have increases ranging from $7 to $18 to help fund the additional technology needed to remain competitive within their fields.

The total cost for an undergraduate from Ohio to attend the Columbus campus and live in university housing will increase approximately $946, or 7 percent, for a three-quarter academic year for a continuing student, and $1,288, or 9.2 percent, for a new student. Among the costs, room and board for an average undergraduate room plus a 10-meal plan will increase 3.7 percent, or $231, student health insurance will increase 23.7 percent, or $204, parking on the main campus and bus service will increase $9, and season football ticket prices will increase $5.

Fees for applying to the university and accepting admission also will increase, as will the fee to order a transcript. Parking for faculty and staff will increase 4 percent to 5 percent, and the cost of the university’s primary health care plan for most faculty and staff will increase 19 percent. At the University Medical Center, average price increases will be 11.6 percent.