 "Photo: South End File Photo")
Wayne State students can expect a tuition increase of 5.4 percent in the fall semester because of a decision recently reached, after much discussion and reluctance, by the university’s Board of Governors.
The tuition increase is necessary in light of the Michigan House of Representatives’ recommendation that the state reduce appropriations for higher education this year by 3 percent, or $6.6 million, considering that the state is facing a $1.7 billion deficit as of Oct. 1.
At the board’s recent Budget and Finance committee meeting, Provost Nancy Barrett proposed a 4.8 percent or 5.9 percent tuition increase.
The 4.8 percent increase would have required permanent budget cut of $5.8 million. Students would have paid an extra $11.50 per credit hour.
This increase would have also cut 35 administrative positions, 90 part-time faculty positions and four full-time faculty members. Also, some programs, including two in nursing and one in engineering, would have been eliminated.
Other predicted effects included the 24-hour study room in the Undergraduate Library, limiting its hours on weekends and closing on Sundays.
The 5.9 percent raise would have used stimulus funds to cover most of the costs for students, resulting in what would actually be a 4.8 percent tuition increase. A resident freshman would pay $250.90 per credit hour, compared with $239.40 last year.
Out-of-state students would have to pay the full 5.9 percent or $14 per credit hour.
The board voted for a compromise: a 5.4 percent increase, which follows the same model as the 5.9 percent. In-state students will pay 4.8 percent, and nonresidents will pay the full amount.
Some governors are concerned the university may not receive enough stimulus dollars, if any at all.
Governor Gary Pollard said the stipulation of buying down the cost of tuition for in-state students depends heavily on if the state decides to give the money to higher education, as it’s not guaranteed that the university will receive anything.
Harvey Hollins, vice president of Governmental and Community Affairs, said that the legislature decides distribution. Next year, he said, the state could institute a waiver as to how to spend the money, but as it stands now, K-12 education takes priority.
Barrett said that the school has received every indication the money is coming this year.
She said that unlike the other research universities, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, Wayne State is “not very well funded” but has managed to keep its tuition increase low. U of M and MSU have already decided to increase their tuition by 5.6 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively, Barrett said.
“If you think about whether our tuition is excessive, fair, high enough to cover our costs, the students are getting a fair deal,” Barrett said.
She said to help students, the university has doubled the amount of financial aid available and reduced tuition for alumni and their spouses who have lost jobs, as well as for returning military veterans.
Yet, according to biochemistry major Aini Abukar, financial aid is not enough. She said that because financial aid is need-based, officers determine how much a student needs, but often it doesn’t cover that.
“I came to Wayne State because it was cheaper,” Abukar said. “For them to raise tuition is not beneficial to us lower-income people.”
Abukar, who transferred to Wayne State from Michigan State University, thinks that now she might as well return there for the rates she’ll have to pay.
Other students have been more understanding of the increase and are more upset by the actions of the state that have created this situation.
“It could be worse,” Student Council Vice President Amanda Carnagie said. “I’m not happy, but I’m not devastated either. It was an appropriate action. It’s just Wayne State making lemonade out of the lemons its been given.”
Carnagie said she was more concerned over the state’s consideration of eliminating the Michigan Promise scholarship, which provides up to $4,000 to high school graduates who complete two years of postsecondary education and costs the state $140 million annually.
“It’s rough and no one wants to see tuition increase, but it was necessary in order to provide the same quality of education,” Student Council Parliamentarian Mike Sullivan said. “If I had to express dissatisfaction toward anything, it’d have to be with the state for not putting a priority on education.”
Peace and conflict studies major Aaron Petcoff said that the state really does need to be held as responsible.
“It’s ridiculous that Michigan values higher education so little while being a top spender on prisons,” he said. “It should be apparent that Michigan will never recover from the depression without funding education more and making [the] university more accessible.”
As for the university’s budget, nothing has been decided yet. The Board of Governors meeting scheduled for Aug. 5 has been postponed until Aug. 26, in order to allow more consultation before a budget is agreed upon.
