04
June
1998
|
18:00 PM
America/New_York
Trustees: Tuition Increase, Parking Plan
TRUSTEES APPROVE TUITION AND PARKING PLANS
COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University Board of Trustees on
Friday (6/5) took another step toward improving the university's
academic standing by approving a $73-per-quarter increase in resident
undergraduate tuition. Trustees approved a master plan to improve
parking on the Columbus campus and authorized the university to move
forward on two construction projects.
Trustees set 1998-99 tuition levels
Trustees accepted a plan to increase general and instructional
fees for in-state undergraduate students by $73 a quarter or $219 a
year, or 6 percent. An undergraduate student from Ohio will pay
$3,879 annually in tuition next year.
The overall cost for resident undergraduates to attend school
full-time and live in university housing will increase $401, to
$10,329 a year, an increase of just 4 percent or less than $2 a day,
said William J. Shkurti, vice president for finance. This includes a
2.8 percent increase for room and board ($132) and a 5 percent
increase for textbooks and supplies ($33) (See table below).
At this meeting, trustees approved the first 4 percent of the
tuition increase. State law requires a second vote for increases
greater than 4 percent, so the board will vote on the additional 2
percent in July to achieve the full 6 percent. This is the first
time in three years that the university has increased fees for
resident undergraduates up to the maximum allowed by state law.
Ohio State has as a goal to improve its academic ranking, but
the university has significantly less financial resources per student
to work with than its comparable institutions, Shkurti told trustees.
Ohio State's tuition and fees are significantly below the averages of
comparable institutions and the other public universities in Ohio,
Shkurti said.
Benchmark institutions are the nine campuses against which the
university measures itself. The campuses are highly ranked
academically and comparable to Ohio State in mission, size and
configuration. They are Pennsylvania State University and the
universities of Minnesota, Washington, Texas, Michigan, Illinois,
Arizona, Wisconsin and California, Los Angeles.
In revenue per full-time equivalent student -- which adjusts for
part-time and full-time students -- Ohio State ranks 23 percent, or
$6,400, below the average of the nine institutions, with revenue of
$21,953. The University of Michigan has the highest revenue, at
$37,118, and the average is $28,349.
"Much of the reason the university trails the average," Shkurti
said, "is that it trails the others in state appropriations," where
the $7,375 per student is 15.1 percent, or $1,111, below the
benchmark mean. Compounding the problem is that the university has
to absorb a $1.5 million loss in state funding for next year, and
with an Ohio court ruling on primary and secondary school funding
still to come, state appropriations for the future are uncertain,
Shkurti said.
Annual resident undergraduate tuition and fees at Ohio State are
$364 per student, or 9.1 percent, below the average of the benchmark
institutions, Shkurti said. Resident undergraduates at Ohio State
pay $3,687. The average tuition is $4,051 and the high is $6,253 at
the University of Michigan. While resident undergraduate tuition is
relatively low, Shkurti said, it is relatively high for nonresident
graduate and professional students, ranking third highest among the
benchmark institutions.
In addition, Ohio State's annual resident undergraduate tuition
is eighth among the 13 public universities in Ohio -- $283 or 7.2
percent below the state average of $3,943, Shkurti said. Miami, Kent
State, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Ohio University, Toledo and Wright
State all have higher tuition than Ohio State. And Ohio State's
academic reputation, based on the U.S. News and World Report of
America's best colleges, is the highest of the state's public
universities, ranking well above Miami, Ohio University, Cincinnati
and Kent State.
"Ohio State is an excellent value for Ohio taxpayers, but is not
as well funded as its competitors, lacking the resources to fully
match or beat our competition in critical areas such as services to
our students," Shkurti said. "Our students expect and deserve the
same or better level of service as students elsewhere. This
combination of increased student fees and state support will allow
the university to make significant improvements in the quality of
services to students during the next academic year."
Additional funding will be used to improve the student
experience in several priority areas: technology, disability
services, student information system, retention, student leadership,
academic advising and credit transfers. Other recommended
improvements will increase scholarships and financial aid, reduce the
student-faculty ratio, enhance library acquisitions, reduce the
number of closed courses and increase wages for student workers.
Nonresident undergraduate fees will increase $561 per year, to
$11,088. Resident graduate student fees will increase $86 per
quarter, or $258 per year, to $5,445. Nonresident graduate fees will
increase $654 per year to $13,731. Other graduate and professional
fees and the out-of-state surcharge will increase by 5 percent,
except in the colleges of Business and Law (9.5 percent), Dentistry,
Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine (7 percent) and Medicine (6
percent).
At the regional campuses, funding of the access challenge in the
state budget allowed tuition increases to be held to just 3 percent
next year, Shkurti said. Full-time undergraduate students at Ohio
State's Lima, Mansfield, Marion and Newark campuses will pay $1,176
per quarter or $3,528 per year for tuition and fees.
Trustees approve plan for parking with rate increases
Trustees gave their approval to a consulting firm's master plan
for traffic and parking, along with its recommendations for parking
fee increases (See tables below). The fee increases would be used
to fund additional campus bus service, improve maintenance of buses
and garages, make safety improvements and develop plans for a parking
garage in the northern section of the academic core area.
Ultimately, the plan recommends two new garages, with a total 3,000
additional spaces.
In the academic core area, students would benefit from the
additional allocation of 1,000 spaces, and visitors would benefit
from 950 designated spaces. There would be 550 new A permit spaces
and 650 new B permit spaces, but those users also would benefit from
the reduced visitor demand.
Expanded bus service will facilitate movement on campus, with a
circulator route in the core academic area for students and to make
work-related intracampus travel easier for faculty and staff. The
core circulator route also will have the added benefit of reducing
vehicular movement between north and south campus. Other transit
improvements would provide more direct bus service from west campus
to south campus, and from the Jerome Schottenstein Center to the
academic core.
The plan calls for increases of $4.75 per month to $24 for an A
permit, $3.17 per month for a B permit and $1.33 per month for a C
student permit. There would be a decrease in the short-term hourly
rate for visitors to the campus, but a slight increase in long-term
hourly parking fees to increase turnover of parking spaces. Rates
for patients in the medical center area will be looked at separately.
Students would pay $99 a year to park in the central campus area, but
only $24 a year to park in the remote lots on west campus and take a
bus to the central campus. Rates for the west campus lots for
students, faculty and staff will be fixed at 25 percent of the rate
for central campus, which represents decreases of about a third for
students and more than 50 percent for faculty and staff.
The plan recommends that fees for faculty, staff and students
continue to increase for the duration of the five-year plan, but
trustees would have to approve each hike after reviewing proposals
for the use of the revenue. At its height after five years, the most
a permit-holder would pay is $1.80 a day, or $39 a month.
The consultants, Sasaki Associates Inc. of Boston, conducted
numerous public forums earlier this year, and sought the input of
faculty, staff and students. Preliminary recommendations had called
for fee increases to be phased in over a three-year period, but the
university decided to propose a five-year implementation to
ameliorate the impact on users.
Trustees hire designers, seek construction bids
Trustees authorized the university to hire architects and
engineers and seek construction bids for projects at Rhodes and
Blankenship halls.
University Hospitals will pay the $1.2 million cost to renovate
space on the third floor of Rhodes Hall to house the laboratory
robotics system. Renovations at Blankenship Hall will create space
for the university offices of finance, controller, accounting,
accounts payable, financial systems, financial training, equipment
inventory, indirect costs, internal audit, commencement and official
events, and Wexner Security. The $5 million cost will come from
central university funds.
Miscellaneous business
In other business, trustees:
-- Heard a budget report from William J. Shkurti, vice president
for finance, about the status of the university's operating budget
for the third quarter. Quarterly budget reports are required by
board policy. Shkurti told trustees that spring quarter enrollment
was up 10 students from original projections, or within 0.02 percent;
and the Asian financial crisis has meant a loss of 50 students,
compared with a projected loss of 230. Shkurti also said that the
Columbus campus has received its first money for meeting new
statewide performance standards, $336,000 that recognizes efforts to
graduate at-risk students.
-- Passed a resolution that allows the university to continue
making expenditures, including payroll, at previous levels from the
June 30 end of this fiscal year until the adoption of the operating
budget for Fiscal Year 1998-99, expected at the July 10 board
meeting.
-- Authorized the expenditure of $1.1 million for the
university's continued participation in the OhioHealth Alliance, a
Medicare managed care program.
-- Renewed easements for utilities at Don Scott Field, Molly
Caren Agricultural Center and the Marion campus.
-- Approved 215 contracts totaling $13.3 million for research
projects funded in April.
#
Contact:William J. Shkurti, vice president for finance,
614-292-9232
Sarah Blouch, director of transportation and parking,
614-292-9800
Written by Dave Bhaerman, University Communications, 614-292-8422.
TABLES
Summary of Typical Undergraduate Student Fees
Columbus campus
1997-98 1998-99 Dollar Percent
Change Change
RESIDENT FEES
Tuition $3,660 $3,879 $219 6.0%
Room & board 4,797 4,929 132 2.8%
Textbooks/supplies 662 695 33 5.0%
Health Insurance 573 561 (12) -2.1%
Parking & Bus Pass 83 99 16 19.3%
COTA Pass 27 27 0 0.0%
Football tickets 70 75 5 7.1%
Basketball tickets 56 64 8 14.3%
TOTAL $9,928 $10,329 $401 4.0%
Comparison to Ohio Benchmarks
Academic
reputation* University Annual tuition**
37 Ohio State $3,660
65 Miami $5,512
84 Ohio University $4,275
116 Cincinnati $4,359
148 Kent State $4,460
* Academic reputation ranking is based on U.S. News and World Report, America's Best Colleges Exclusive Ranking, 1997
** Annual tuition is based on Fall 1997 tuition and fees for resident undergraduate students. Source: Ohio Board of Regents, "Fall Survey of Student Charges," 1997.
PARKING -- Proposed Annual Ohio State Fee Increases
Permit Current FY98-99 99-00 00-01 01-02 02-03
A Central $231 $288 $345 $396 $432 $474
A West $156 $72 $87 $99 $108 $120
B Central $122 $150 $180 $207 $225 $249
B Garage $217 $267 $321 $366 $402 $438
B West $84 $39 $45 $51 $57 $62
C Central $83 $99 $120 $138 $150 $165
C Garage $217 $267 $321 $366 $402 $438
C West $37 $24 $30 $33 $39 $42
Comparisons with Downtown garages
Location and Monthly Rate
Statehouse, Broad & High: $145
City Center, Town & Third: $82.50
Allright, 55 E. Long: $90
Capital Plaza, 50 E. Young: $80
Republic Parking, 100 N. Front: $115
Tower Parking, 170 Marconi: $110
LeVeque, 40 N. Front: $125
Huntington Center, 37 W. Broad: $130
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $24
