IU could face tuition increase

Students will not be spared by the statewide fiscal problems facing Hoosiers at this year's General Assembly session. The projected $1.3 billion state deficit could force administrators to raise tuition if state revenues are not increased. \nIf Indiana legislature is able to raise revenue and reduce spending, public education may not experience any further budget cuts and IU students may not have to deal with the resulting increase in tuition. \nGov. Frank O'Bannon said adjustments to the General Fund alone will not solve the state's financial problems and has proposed a plan that hikes cigarette and gambling taxes. \nWithout this plan O'Bannon said he will be forced to make further cuts to education spending.\nO'Bannon's deficit-reduction plan includes a package that will increase riverboat casino admission taxes from $3 to $5, a 50-cent raise in the cigarette tax and the suspension of two tax cuts approved in 1999.\nA separate package proposed by O'Bannon asks for tax restructuring, which will reduce the anticipated property tax increase, resulting from a property tax reassessment.\nRep. Mark Kruzan (D-Bloomington) said the state has already started to cut spending. \nThe governor ordered a 7 percent cut in all state spending. He froze state employee salaries, imposed a hiring freeze and severely restricted out-of-state travel by state workers. Finally, O'Bannon has ordered a cut of higher education spending in the state, totaling $50 million.\nIf lawmakers are forced to continue making cuts in the education budget, an increase in tuition will result, said State Senator Vi Simpson and chairwoman of the State Budget Committee.\n"Everyone concerned about public education needs to make it clear to representatives and senators, in our hometowns, that doing nothing is unacceptable," Simpson said.\nIU students said they hope the governor and the General Assembly find an alternative to cutting education spending.\n"Any increase in tuition will place a huge added burden on my family," sophomore Adam Berry said.\nKruzan, who graduated from IU School of Law in 1985, said he sympathizes with students.\n"In 1982 tuition was drastically increased and financial aid was cut," Kruzan said. "The double-whammy is especially threatening to students who already face high costs while enrolled and a crushing debt upon graduation."\nIt is likely that students will feel the effects of budget cuts as soon as next year, Kruzan said. IU must anticipate the reduced revenue as it calculates tuition models that will be implemented this summer.\nO'Bannon's spending cuts have not affected the fixed budget of the State Student Assistance Commission, said Nick Vesper, director of policy and research for the SSAC.\nIf the budget deficit reaches state financial aid programs many students will feel the effects.\nThe SSAC, an organization that subsidizes higher education in Indiana, provided 43,811 students with state financial assistance, said Vesper. \nOf that total, 3,738 were IU undergraduate students receiving $9,582,365 in state financial assistance, said Todd Schmitz, director of reporting and research for the IUB Professional Council.