Tuition rises 13 percent

Tuition increases at Indiana's four-year public colleges and universities last year averaged 13 percent, the 10th highest increase in the nation, a new national study found.\nMassachusetts had the nation's biggest increase in tuition and fees at 24 percent, according to the report released Tuesday by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. Missouri, Texas and Iowa all had increases of 20 percent.\nIndiana's average increase from $3,947 to $4,468 topped the national average of 10 percent.\nThe report called the increases "the worst fiscal news for public higher education institutions in at least a decade."\nStan Jones, Indiana's higher education commissioner, said he believed tuition increases at the state's colleges exceeded what was needed to compensate for state funding losses and that he was concerned about major hikes.\n"I think we're headed down the wrong path here," he said.\nStudents attending two-year public colleges in Indiana, such as Ivy Tech State College, paid an average of 14 percent more -- the fifth largest increase in the country.\nAfter three years of freezing, or cutting tuition, Ivy Tech raised its credit hour rate by 10 percent. It also added a technology fee and a temporary fee to help recoup renovation costs.\n"Last year, everything caught up with us," Bob Holmes, vice president of financial affairs at Ivy Tech.\nIndiana, Purdue and Ball State universities all increased tuition at least nine percent last year. Those schools also implemented a $1,000 fee for new students this school year.\nEdward St. John, a higher education policy expert at Indiana University, said a congressional panel recently found that nearly four million students will not be able to afford college by 2010 without an increase in federal grant programs.\n"It's not clear that (financial aid grants) are going to keep up with $1,000 raises," he said. "We're going to have a hard time keeping pace."\nState university officials last month indicated that significant tuition increases might be needed if they do not get more state funding. Some legislators have said the state might need to cap tuition to keep it from becoming too expensive.\nGreg Schenkel, a member of Ball State's board of trustees, said university officials have faced the difficult choice of finding the money needed to maintain the quality of education.\n"It's a short-term, short-sided political-type decision," he said of tuition caps. "To me, it's almost irresponsible"