96-02-29 Trustees: Tuition Proposal OHIO STATE CONSIDERING 6 PERCENT TUITION INCREASE COLUMBUS -- Ohio State University is considering a 6 percent raise in tuition for in-state resident undergraduate students. In a meeting of the Board of Trustees Thursday (2/29), Ohio State administrators recommended the increase for autumn quarter to maintain a competitive position with other universities with regard to the quality of academic programs and services to students. A formal vote is not planned until May. The increase amounts to $195 per year for a full-time student. It would raise the current annual rate from $3,273 to $3,468. Resident graduate students would pay $4,941, up from the current $4,707. Richard Sisson, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, said, "It is essential that Ohio State maintain and enhance its support and services for students both in and outside the classroom, a commitment we are pursuing in consonance with the recent recommendations of our joint student-faculty-staff Committee on the Undergraduate Experience." William J. Shkurti, vice president for finance, shared revenue information with trustees Thursday. Sisson and Shkurti plan to discuss expenditures at the board's April 3 meeting and will submit budget guidelines for the board's approval on May 3 to allow broad consultation with student groups. Shkurti noted that resident undergraduate fees at Ohio State are 9.6 percent below the average for 16 peer institutions across the country and the fourth lowest of the 13 public universities in Ohio. In terms of academic reputation, however, Ohio State leads the state's public universities, based on a 1995 U.S. News and World Report survey of college presidents, deans and admission directors at 229 comprehensive national universities. Ohio State was ranked 36th overall. The next Ohio public university was Miami University at 73. "This makes Ohio State an excellent value for Ohio taxpayers, but it also means that the university doesn't have the resources to match our competition in the area of services to students outside the classroom," said Sisson. Shkurti added, "It's not good enough to just have a low price anymore. You have to offer a low price and a quality product. External evaluations, such as academic reputation, demonstrate the quality of our instruction is high, but our students tell us we need to do a better job in providing support services to them outside the classroom." Although universities have been criticized for raising tuition above the rate of inflation, Shkurti noted that other factors must be addressed. In addition to inflation, now about 3 percent, unfunded mandates account for 0.5 percent of the increase. The mandates include compliance with state and federal laws and regulations pertaining to safety, health, disability, right to know, and the environment. Another 1.5 percent is needed to provide more financial aid to students. Finally, the vice presidents are recommending that the tuition increase include 1 percent earmarked solely for improvements to student services. Trustees took a similar action in setting tuition last year. The money is to be channeled into strengthening instructional computing, recreational opportunities for students, support of student organizations, and other services and programs. One reason tuition increases have exceeded the rate of inflation is that state instructional subsidies have fallen below inflation, averaging 0.3 percent a year over the past five years. During that time, tuition on the Columbus campus has increased 20 times faster than state support, and has averaged 6.2 percent. Revenue from other sources has increased an average of 5.5 percent a year. Although Ohio State has maintained low tuition as part of its land-grant heritage of making college affordable and accessible, Shkurti noted, the structure of the state's ceiling on tuition increases further limits the university's ability to compete with others in providing services. The ceiling, in place for several years, is currently 6 percent. Because of the way the tuition cap is structured, Ohio State cannot increase the dollar amount of tuition as much as other universities that already charge higher prices. Shkurti noted that a 6 percent increase in tuition, if enacted, would generate $196 per student at Ohio State and $289 at Miami University. An in-state undergraduate at Miami this year is paying $4,810, the highest such fee among public universities in the state and more than $1,500 above the $3,273 Ohio State charges a comparable student. Miami has not set fees for the coming year. Ohio State's current undergraduate tuition is $1,091 a quarter. The proposed increase would raise that $65 to $1,156. Graduate tuition would rise by $78 from $1,569 to $1,647. Non-resident undergraduates would pay $3,445 a quarter, up $174 from the current rate, while out-of-state graduate students would pay $4,277, up $203 from the current level. Ohio State's professional schools are requesting tuition increases for state residents of 7 percent in the College of Veterinary Medicine, 8 percent in the colleges of Dentistry and Medicine, and 9.5 percent in the College of Law. The College of Nursing is requesting an additional fee of $100 to $150 per clinical course. Under university policy instituted last year and recommended again this year, a college can retain the percentage above 5 percent for financial aid and improvements to other program directly benefiting students, provided that enrollment remains constant. # Contact: Richard Sisson, (614) 292-5881, or William J. Shkurti, (614) 292-9232. Written by Tom Spring, (614) 292-8309. [Submitted by: Von Reid-Vargas (ereid@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) Thu, 29 Feb 1996 16:47:12 -0500] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.