Trustees back tuition hike, athletics fee

IU administration officials rolled out next year's proposed tuition increases Wednesday, with hope that the Indiana General Assembly will soon approve a two-year budget and allow the University to finalize tuition increases accordingly.\nThe proposal, submitted during a statewide trustee forum in the Indiana Memorial Union, calls for any increase in tuition and mandatory fees for all undergraduates not to exceed 4.9 percent for the 2005-06 school year.\nFor graduate and professional students, the proposed increase will be 6 percent, with some program-specific increases ranging from 3.9 percent to 12 percent, depending on a student's state of residency.\nAs a public university, IU receives a large portion of its financial resources from the state. Because the state legislature has not yet approved a budget, administration officials are unsure at what level state support for higher education will be -- and they are largely pessimistic.\n"A number of significant challenges confront our state's leaders as they work to craft a budget for the next biennium," IU President Adam Herbert said in the forum's opening remarks. "We hope state leaders recognize the vital role higher educational must play in building a 21st century economy, and we're hopeful our legislators will rise to the formidable challenge."\nIU raised tuition by 4 percent for the 2004-05 school year -- less than the national average tuition increase -- and adhered to then-Gov. Joe Kernan's request to voluntarily cap tuition hikes at 4 percent.\nJudy Palmer, IU vice president and chief financial officer, said securing the proper financing for the University will probably not be done through more state funding, nor is IU willing to raise tuition extraordinarily.\n"We don't have that definite answer from the state, but we know that the state's fiscal environment and slow economic growth will impact the ultimate outcome," Palmer said.\nIn lieu of state appropriations, Palmer said, the funding will have to be found in moderate tuition increases and "cutting costs and becoming more efficient" as an institution.\nPalmer said to scale back costs IU is participating in "buying partnerships" with other Big Ten schools, several energy saving projects to trim utility bills, enacting preferred airline and car rental discounts for traveling staff and restructuring student loan collection services.\nThe legislature is expected to finish its work on the state budget in the next week or two. The trustees are not expected to act on tuition and mandatory fees until their May 4 meeting in Bloomington, but already a tuition increase is creating unrest.\n"As we look at not exceeding a 4.9 percent tuition increase, I certainly hope that if we don't have to increase all the way to 4.9 percent, we don't," said trustee Cora Smith Breckinridge, who participated in the forum via teleconference in South Bend.\nIncoming IU Student Association President Alex Shortle said he was pleasantly surprised that the University declared its intention not to exceed 4.9 percent in tuition and mandatory fee increases. He said he thought the number would be much higher, but was still disappointed he left the meeting without learning more about the tuition proposal because the forum's topic was dominated by talk of increasing last year's $30 athletics fee. \n"The biggest disappointment of this meeting was that it was on fees and not on tuition," Shortle said. "We have to get the students' voices heard."\nShortle, whose Vote For Pedro ticket narrowly won the IUSA election in February, added that he anticipates his administration will continue the work and student lobbying already in progress by the outgoing Crimson administration on the topics of tuition increases and mandatory fees. \n-- Contact Senior Writer Tony Sams at ajsams@indiana.edu.