The University Board of Trustees unanimously approved a 3.5 percent tuition increase for the 2010 spring semester at Friday’s meeting.
An undergraduate student taking between 12 and 18 credit hours will pay an extra $158 in tuition next semester. Students at Firelands campus will pay an extra $78.
Tuition for graduate students will remain the same throughout the academic year (graduate fees will increase $27).
On Sept. 15, President Carol Cartwright addressed students in an e-mail stating the administration supported the decision to raise tuition and suggested the board pass the respected legislation.
The raise, which is the maximum percentage allowed by the state, follows a $13 million reduction in the University’s budget. This includes administrative, departmental and staff cuts.
‘I think the decision was necessary,’ Cartwright said after the meeting. ‘I know the board didn’t take [the increase] lightly. However, there is a relationship between state support and tuition.’
The State Share of Instruction, the major funding entity for higher education in Ohio, was one main deciding factor. All 13 public colleges, including the University of Toledo, will have cuts in state funding next year.
While the University will still receive a 1.5 percent increase from SSI next year, it is significantly lower than last year’s 9.5 percent. The University acquired $88.1 million from SSI this year.
Chief Financial Officer Sherideen Stoll said raising tuition by 3.5 percent will generate $2.1 million for the University, but this is still less than the $3.8 million they expect to lose from SSI next semester.
‘If it was my choice, I would raise it to zero,’ she said. ‘When students and their families are struggling, raising tuition is something you do not want to do.’
Decreasing enrollment was another deciding factor.
Since 2006, freshmen enrollment has dropped each year from 3,656 to 3,150 as of Aug. 18, 2009, costing the University several thousand dollars and needing to find additional revenue to offset the deficit, Stoll said.
‘When you have fewer enrolled students, that absolutely drives your revenue down,’ she said.
Albert Colom, vice president of enrollment management, said the University gets a good part of its budget from student fees and tuition costs. Colom and his staff will use new enrollment techniques to attract more prospective students to the University.
Cartwright said the University will invest heavily in marketing through television and billboards to increase enrollment.
The board discussed the issue throughout the past couple weeks. All nine members came to the consensus that raising tuition would be in the best interest for the University, said Bob Sebo, chair of the Board of Trustees.
‘Due to the lack of funding and cuts of funding from the state, it’s almost necessary to make an increase,’ Sebo said.
The University could have raised tuition this fall, but didn’t. Stoll said she understood the already costly expense for higher education, and felt families and students would appreciate an additional freeze.
It is still undecided if tuition will increase for the 2010 fall semester. The final decision will be made at the board’s May 7 meeting. Enrollment and state funding will be key factors in the decision, Stoll said.
Cartwright said if tuition increases, so will opportunities in education and the resources provided to students.
‘We are going to do everything in our power to maintain and increase quality,’ Cartwright said.
