2008 Woodie Awards
Tuition increase lowest since 1998
by Danielle Higginbotham and Rachel Heiderscheidt
Issue date: 1/24/08
Section: Campus News
Although rising tuition costs are an ever-present worry for college students, this year's tuition increase shouldn't keep anyone up at night.
This coming fall, tuition at Minnesota State and other state universities is set to go up by three percent - the lowest yearly increase since 1998. Two-year colleges, such as Rochester Community and Technical College, should only see an increase of two percent.
These rates follow the recommendation of Chancellor James H. McCormick and the Board of Trustees, who wanted to find a way to increase the quality of the programs within Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) without having to significantly increase tuition costs as well.
This three percent translates to $159, bringing the 2009 annual tuition cost to a total of $5,467, or to $5,971 once student fees are included. The three percent increase is a welcome change from a four- year trend that began in 2001, when the economy held down money from the state for education and tuition increased by double-digit percentiles.
There are many reasons tuition must increase every year, one of them being unstable and ever increasing petroleum prices.
"Tuition pays for many things, and one major expense is heating the campus.," said Chris Frederick, president of Minnesota State Student Association (MSSA). "If prices for petroleum do increase, tuition has to be adjusted to keep up."
"It also covers the salaries of professors, and as the economy changes, their salaries increase to keep up with inflation," he explained. "It also pays for library expenses, utilities…basically, everything needed to run a university."
More than any other factor, however, the national state of the economy plays a huge role in tuition increases at educational institutions nationwide. Money given to the school by the state plays a major factor in how much tuition must increase, and this is directly determined by the health of the national economy.
"Each year, the state allocates a certain amount of money to the MnSCU system. If the state doesn't give enough money, then the students must," Frederick said. "State appropriations cover about half the cost, and money from students makes up the other half."
Richard Straka, vice president of finance and administration, reiterated this point.
"The state revenues are highly dependent on how solid the national economy is," he said.
Straka explained that since 9/11, there has been a national trend of increased tuition due to an ailing economy and state funding for education being cut drastically.
"At one point, there was a multi-million dollar deficit in the state of Minnesota," Straka said. "There wasn't a willingness to raise taxes to make up the difference."
He added that at some state institutions, tuition increases were in the range of 15 to 17 percent.
The reason the tuition increase is low this year, he said, is due primarily to the efforts of state legislators, the Board of Trustees and students.
"Students have done a very good job conveying the message to legislators as well as the Board of Trustees of the impact tuition increases have had," he said.
According to Frederick, tuition increases hurt students by financially hindering them after graduation. For many students, tuition increases translate into more loans and graduating with more debt, which affects a student's ability to contribute to society.
Increases also effect the student population, because if prices get too high for them to afford, students may find other, less expensive schools to attend.
"I don't like the increase, of course," said junior Anastasia Nela. "But I guess three percent is pretty low. I was on the student government at my last school and we were fighting to put a cap on increases and keep tuition prices low. I think it would be really nice if there were a year with no tuition increase at all."
Sophomore Terron Lee agrees.
"It's extra money I don't want to have to pay, especially because it's hard enough to pay tuition right now. I think everyone is going to have tough time with it."
MSU's annual tuition ranks in the middle of costs among the seven state universities. The least expensive university is Metropolitan, while the most expensive - and the only school with a price tag of over $6,000 - is Bemidji.
"Bemidji's higher cost is due to the fact that they don't charge out of state tuition, so in-state students have to pay a little more to make up for it," said Frederick. "They've also got a smaller student population, so they've got to charge students more in order to come up with enough money to sustain the university. At MSU, we can spread out the costs among more students."
Tuition increases have been an inevitable part of attending MSU since 1933, when tuition was charged for the first time. It replaced the free enrollment and "pledge to teach" (which matched the MSU reputation and name of Mankato State Teacher's College). Students were charged only $10 a quarter, with non-residents paying $15.
Dannielle Higginbotham is a Reporter staff writer
Rachel Heiderscheidt is the Reporter news editor
This coming fall, tuition at Minnesota State and other state universities is set to go up by three percent - the lowest yearly increase since 1998. Two-year colleges, such as Rochester Community and Technical College, should only see an increase of two percent.
These rates follow the recommendation of Chancellor James H. McCormick and the Board of Trustees, who wanted to find a way to increase the quality of the programs within Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) without having to significantly increase tuition costs as well.
This three percent translates to $159, bringing the 2009 annual tuition cost to a total of $5,467, or to $5,971 once student fees are included. The three percent increase is a welcome change from a four- year trend that began in 2001, when the economy held down money from the state for education and tuition increased by double-digit percentiles.
There are many reasons tuition must increase every year, one of them being unstable and ever increasing petroleum prices.
"Tuition pays for many things, and one major expense is heating the campus.," said Chris Frederick, president of Minnesota State Student Association (MSSA). "If prices for petroleum do increase, tuition has to be adjusted to keep up."
"It also covers the salaries of professors, and as the economy changes, their salaries increase to keep up with inflation," he explained. "It also pays for library expenses, utilities…basically, everything needed to run a university."
More than any other factor, however, the national state of the economy plays a huge role in tuition increases at educational institutions nationwide. Money given to the school by the state plays a major factor in how much tuition must increase, and this is directly determined by the health of the national economy.
"Each year, the state allocates a certain amount of money to the MnSCU system. If the state doesn't give enough money, then the students must," Frederick said. "State appropriations cover about half the cost, and money from students makes up the other half."
Richard Straka, vice president of finance and administration, reiterated this point.
"The state revenues are highly dependent on how solid the national economy is," he said.
Straka explained that since 9/11, there has been a national trend of increased tuition due to an ailing economy and state funding for education being cut drastically.
"At one point, there was a multi-million dollar deficit in the state of Minnesota," Straka said. "There wasn't a willingness to raise taxes to make up the difference."
He added that at some state institutions, tuition increases were in the range of 15 to 17 percent.
The reason the tuition increase is low this year, he said, is due primarily to the efforts of state legislators, the Board of Trustees and students.
"Students have done a very good job conveying the message to legislators as well as the Board of Trustees of the impact tuition increases have had," he said.
According to Frederick, tuition increases hurt students by financially hindering them after graduation. For many students, tuition increases translate into more loans and graduating with more debt, which affects a student's ability to contribute to society.
Increases also effect the student population, because if prices get too high for them to afford, students may find other, less expensive schools to attend.
"I don't like the increase, of course," said junior Anastasia Nela. "But I guess three percent is pretty low. I was on the student government at my last school and we were fighting to put a cap on increases and keep tuition prices low. I think it would be really nice if there were a year with no tuition increase at all."
Sophomore Terron Lee agrees.
"It's extra money I don't want to have to pay, especially because it's hard enough to pay tuition right now. I think everyone is going to have tough time with it."
MSU's annual tuition ranks in the middle of costs among the seven state universities. The least expensive university is Metropolitan, while the most expensive - and the only school with a price tag of over $6,000 - is Bemidji.
"Bemidji's higher cost is due to the fact that they don't charge out of state tuition, so in-state students have to pay a little more to make up for it," said Frederick. "They've also got a smaller student population, so they've got to charge students more in order to come up with enough money to sustain the university. At MSU, we can spread out the costs among more students."
Tuition increases have been an inevitable part of attending MSU since 1933, when tuition was charged for the first time. It replaced the free enrollment and "pledge to teach" (which matched the MSU reputation and name of Mankato State Teacher's College). Students were charged only $10 a quarter, with non-residents paying $15.
Dannielle Higginbotham is a Reporter staff writer
Rachel Heiderscheidt is the Reporter news editor
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