Music school tuition could rise

Jacobs School of Music students could pay up to 24 percent more for graduate credit hours next academic year if the board of trustees approves a planned proposal.\nThe increase would help pay for faculty salaries and school equipment, said Gwyn Richards, dean of the Jacobs School of Music. Richards said the exact amount of the increase is still being determined, but it will probably be about 24 percent more than what graduate students pay now, which is $241.30 per credit hour for in-state students and $702.75 per credit hour for out-of-state students, according to a list of student fees from the Office of the Bursar. \nA 24 percent increase would raise those figures to about $300 per credit hour for in-state students and about $870 per credit hour for out-of-state tuition.\nBy comparison, between the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 academic years, the tuition increased about 6 percent for both in-state and out-of-state students. \n“We want our budget to grow with our aspirations,” Richards said.\nThe proposal also includes an $800-per-semester program fee. This fee will replace the $670-per-semester “performance study fee.” The performance study fee is now only paid by performance students that use the facilities in the music school for performing, such as ballet and piano students. The program fee would be assessed to all students, graduate and undergraduate, who major in music.\nStudents feel “misled” by the timing of the proposal, said School of Music Student Representative Committee President Aisha Ahmad-Post. Graduate school applications for most other music schools are due by December and January, Ahmad-Post said.\n“The fact that we didn’t find out about this until last month is the most problematic issue,” Ahmad-Post said.\nMarysol Quevedo is a second-year graduate student in the School of Music studying musicology. Quevdeo said the proposal was a shock to current students because they made the decision to come to the school before the proposal.\n“It’s a big hike, even though the reasons they have given us seem well-founded,” Quevedo said. “The rise in salaries for faculty has been very low in the last few years. If another institution offers (a faculty member) more money, they might leave.”\nMatvey Lapin, a doctoral student in the Jacobs School, said that even though he pays in-state tuition, he is still not happy with the proposal.\n“I have student loans and those would increase,” Lapin said.\nAnother graduate student, Carol Dusdieker, said that if the proposal passes, the music school will price itself out of the music market and students would go to other music schools.\nIU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said there are lots of procedural steps the proposed budget must go through before it becomes the actual budget. All proposed budgets are reviewed by the provost and then the president before being presented to the board of trustees, who ultimately make the final decision.\n“Knowing how much money the state is going to allocate to the University will be critical in the board of trustees decision-making process,” MacIntyre said.\nThe board of trustees will make a decision about the budget proposal by June 30, MacIntyre said.