Ohio University students might face a 6 percent tuition increase in the 2006-07 school year, OU President Roderick McDavis said at a news conference yesterday.
If a 6 percent increase occurs, that would bring next year's tuition to about $8,700 - about $500 more than this year's tuition of $8,235. One percent of the proposed increase would fund the Gateway Scholarship Program, a scholarship fund for high-achieving incoming freshmen. The other 5 percent of the proposed increase would cover university operating costs, McDavis said.
As higher education costs continue to rise, OU is trying to find alternate ways to gather revenue to minimize tuition increases, he said.
We made a decision not to pass those costs on to students
instead looking to find new revenue resources McDavis said.
Tuition also increased by 6 percent during the current 2005-06 academic year.
McDavis said he will make the official announcement about tuition increases at the March 1 OU Board of Trustees meeting.
The university also is anticipating a $9.3 million deficit for the 2007 fiscal year, McDavis said at the news conference.
The university is considering reducing the budget and developing a plan to deal with the deficit he said, adding that the deficit is the result of a variety of factors. These include falling state subsidies, and increases in health care costs and natural gas, the price of which is 60 percent to 65 percent higher than last year, according to a Jan. 10 Post article.
Because the deficit is in the university's operating budget, it will not affect capital expenses such as the building of a new residence hall. Those projects are financed by separate auxiliary funds in the university's capital budget.
Also at the press conference, McDavis announced that applications and the number of students accepted for the next academic year are up from last year's statistics.
According to an undergraduate admissions report, 10,129 students have applied for admission next year, more than 500 more than last year at this time. There were also many more students accepted from the pool of applicants than at this time last year.
The projected enrollment of these students is approximately 4,100, close to this year's record freshman class of 4,166 students, McDavis said, adding that the university is concerned more with enrolling high-achieving students than just increasing enrollment numbers. The average composite ACT score for students who applied for the 2006-07 year is 23.5, the same as last year, he said.
We are focusing on yield now
not on expanding our enrollment
McDavis said.
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