Southern Ind. trustees raise tuition 8 percent

EVANSVILLE -- Trustees at the University of Southern Indiana voted Monday to approve a nearly 8 percent increase in tuition and fees for the 2003-2004 school year.\nUniversity President H. Ray Hoops said the school's business office will "manage the heck out of the dollars."\nTuition for in-state, undergraduate students will be $3,885 a year.\nThe tuition increase should generate about $3 million at USI, said Mary Hupfer, director of the university's budget. About $1.4 million of the increase will support the $64 million operating budget for next year. The other $1.6 million will pay for bonds that funded the Science and Education Building that opens this fall.\nThe budget calls for a 3 percent increase in personnel. Two new programs -- bachelor's degrees in international studies and early childhood development -- also are funded.\nUSI joins most other Indiana colleges and universities in raising tuition for the next school year.\nTuition at Indiana State University will cost $5,422. Freshmen at IU will pay $6,567 a year, not including a $1,000 surcharge for new students, while Purdue University freshmen will pay $5,860 to $6,600 with the extra $1,000 fee.