Trustees hear report on tuition increase

COLUMBUS – Ohio State will continue academic and technology improvements, adding courses and sections in highly desired majors and increasing financial aid with funds received from a proposed increase in tuition and mandatory recreation and activity fees of 13.4 percent, which the university’s Board of Trustees approved today (5/7).

“The university is focusing on improving academic services for students, while seeking to replace lost state support and absorb increases in financial aid, utilities and compensation and benefits,” said Barbara R. Snyder, executive vice president and provost. “We have made great strides over the past several years in recruiting and retaining the best faculty and staff and increasing the opportunity for interaction between students and regular faculty, as well as upgrading learning technology and adding learning opportunities for students outside the classroom. With this increase, that progress will continue.”

Snyder said the focus on the student experience is consistent with the Academic Plan and the current Leadership Agenda, which identifies distinctive educational experiences and opportunities for undergraduates as a central value.

William J. Shkurti, senior vice president for business and finance, said that costs to maintain existing services – financial aid, utility costs, employee benefits and health insurance and pay for faculty, staff and students – are increasing at a rate of between 5 and 6 percent a year. In addition, state support as a percent of the university’s general funds budget has declined from 43.3 percent in 2001 to an estimated 33.1 percent in 2005.

“We have diversified revenues, by increasing our private fund-raising and increasing our outside research funding. We also have reduced costs and improved operating efficiencies and will continue to do so,” Shkurti said. “But further unplanned reductions will harm our students, and we refuse to compromise on the quality of our instruction.”

Shkurti said that, even with the increase, Ohio State remains at a resource disadvantage versus comparable universities, while tuition and fees will rank fifth in public universities in Ohio. On average, Ohio State receives $912 less in total state support and tuition than benchmark universities and other Big Ten public universities. With 30,000 undergraduate students on the Columbus campus, that means a difference of $27.4 million less with which to educate students.

Under the proposal, Columbus campus resident undergraduate tuition and fees will increase by the amount permitted by the state fee cap, which is 12.9 percent. While the increase includes a $15 per quarter student activity fee, it does not include a mandatory $12 per quarter recreation fee, which will eventually rise to $72 a quarter after construction is completed on the new center in 2006. That brings total tuition and mandatory fees to an increase of 13.4 percent.

For students admitted summer 2003 and after – new students and continuing students – full-time tuition and general fees will be $7,506 for a three-quarter academic year, an increase of $855. Of the $855 increase, $352 will go toward sustaining academic programs, $245 will go toward replacing lost state support, $159 will help fund additional financial aid, and $99 will support new technology enhancements. When the recreation fee is added, the total is $7,542.

For continuing students in the middle tier – those admitted between summer 2002 and spring 2003 – the increase will be $843, to $7,410, and $7,446 with the recreation fee. Students admitted before summer 2002 will pay an additional $774, or $6,792, or $6,828 with the additional fee.

Resident graduate fees for the Columbus campus also will increase 13.4 percent, including the activity and recreation fees, and differential fees for graduate and professional students will increase from between 6 percent and 14.5 percent, depending on the college and program. Regional campus residential undergraduate fees will not be determined until next month.

“The most important thing is that need-based financial aid will be increased proportionately to offset these tuition and fee increases for lower income students,” Shkurti told trustees, “so that the University will be able to continue its strong commitment to diversity, which serves our education mission.”

In fiscal year 2004, 21 percent of all undergraduates received some form of grants, excluding loans, from the university. For the upcoming fiscal year, the university’s financial aid costs are expected to increase 23 percent.