Tuition increased 7.5%

The IU board of trustees approved the University's largest tuition hike in seven years Tuesday. In-state students will see their tuition rise about $340 next year, while out-of-state tuition and fees will go up by about $1,000.\nThe additional dollars will primarily fund faculty and staff pay raises and initiatives designed to retain students through graduation. The hike is a response in part to lower-than-usual funding from the state.\nTrustee Stephen Backer said the increase will help IU-Bloomington keep its top faculty and continue as a world-class research institution.\n"From the Bloomington standpoint, this tuition increase helps us considerably to maintain the stature of the institution," Backer said.\nAfter three hours of debate and following an alternate proposal put forward by Trustee Steven Ferguson that would have saved in-state students about $44 per year, the trustees approved the University's proposed fee rates and operating expenses by a vote of 7-0.\nTwo trustees -- Ferguson and Pete Obremsky -- abstained from the vote, saying the 7.5 percent hike was excessive.\n"I fundamentally believe we could get by with a 6.5 percent increase," Obremsky said. "I think the University should do the same belt tightening the state had to do."\nCommissioner for Higher Education Stan Jones said he was similarly disappointed with the tuition hike.\nJones said the tuition hike was "much higher than needed."\n"I think 5 percent would have been appropriate," he said. "(IU) could have had a solid increase in faculty salaries that would have allowed them to be competitive."\nIU President Myles Brand said the University has tightened its belt, citing lower administration pay raises of 2-3 percent. Brand said the hike was worth preserving IU's reputation.\n"The percentages may sound high," Brand said. "The dollar amounts are not."\n"It's dinner out and a pizza (for an in-state student) -- about $30 a month," he said.\nBut junior Elly Romer, an out-of-state student in the work-study program, said it's a meal some students won't be eating.\n"(That's) still an awful lot," Romer said. "Especially for those who are paying their way through college."\nDuring the school year, Romer said she gets by with multiple loans and work-study, but during the summer she struggles to pay out-of-state credit-hour fees.\nRomer said she's afraid the tuition hike could make it nearly impossible for her to graduate on time.\nWhile it seems most students are supportive of raises for faculty and retention of students, they're frustrated by the fee hike.\n"Every time I turn around, on my bursar bill they have a new category or fee," said senior Shotunus Peterson, who has lived in the residence halls for three years. "It's ridiculous!"\nIU Student Association President Jake Oakman, a senior, said he has already spoken to a number of upset students.\nOakman said the tuition increase will pose new challenges to students, but he said he doesn't expect students will leave because of it.\n"Short term, students and families might look at it as a negative mark," Oakman said. "But long term, once we're able to retain more professors, services and build the buildings, this kind of increase will level off."\nSeveral trustees expressed the same concern that the tuition hike could hurt enrollment, especially for out-of-state students, who pay about three times the in-state rate. Brand echoed those concerns: "We may not be over the edge, but we're pushing it," he said.\nBut Brand said financial aid incentives and the University itself should continue to attract out-of-state students.\nHe said students with family incomes of less than $40,000 would be shielded from the tuition hike by new financial aid incentives.\nIU financial aid will increase by 8 percent, or about $3.6 million, according to an IU press release.\nFreshman Sean Yang said he hopes the University includes international students in its plans for new incentives.\n"IU is reasonable compared to other Big Ten universities, but (the tuition hike) is not good news," Yang said.\nYang's parents pay his tuition, but the financial situation in his home of Korea is not good, he said, and another thousand dollars will be a burden on his family.\nIn Indiana, middle-class families will be hurt most by the tuition hike, said Jones.\n"If this was a one-time occurrence, it might be acceptable, but if it continues it will hurt middle-class students," he said. "Most of the financial aid programs are available only for low-income students."\nOf the tuition increase, 3 percent will fund academic initiatives and faculty raises, while 4.5 percent will fund a variety of maintenance costs, including replacing part-time faculty with full-time lecturers and implementing new student retention initiatives.\nOakman acknowledged the paradox of such initiatives.\n"It's ironic that they want to increase tuition to keep students here," he said. "But looking at it from my perspective, the administration has the students' best interests in mind."\nOn the Bloomington campus, faculty will get an average raise of 3 to 4 percent, with an additional 2 percent allocated for selected faculty and assistant professors. A $650,000 fund, Chief Financial Officer Judy Palmer called "a departure from the usual salary policy," will allow the campus to give additional raises to the highest performing faculty.\nWith all instructional fees and general fees, in-state tuition will now be $4,734 and out-of-state tuition will be $14,468 per year.\nThe 7.5 percent hike applies to the Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses. Regional campuses will see a hike of 6.5 percent.\nBrand said it was no coincidence that IU approved a 7.5 percent tuition hike weeks after Purdue approved the same percentage. He said the universities share some of the same challenges.\nJones, though, sees it differently: "I think they thought if Purdue did it, they could get away with it," he said.