As colleges and universities across Ohio raise tuition after a two-year freeze, students at Ohio University say they have had enough.
Legislators permitted Ohio's public universities to institute a 3.5 percent tuition increase in the 2009-10 school year and another in 2010-11.
OU is one of several public universities whose students will pay higher prices this fall. A 3.5 percent tuition increase took effect in Winter Quarter 2010, and another 3.5 percent will be tacked onto tuition starting this fall, meaning OU students will pay $3,179 per quarter in tuition and fees at the beginning of the 2010-11 school year. That number is up from the $2,969 students paid this Fall Quarter.
However, for some students, paying is no longer an option. OU freshman Isabella Zettler left the university after Winter Quarter because she could no longer pay the $2,000 she couldn't cover with loans or scholarships.
It's ridiculous; it costs way too much
Zettler said. I had a good time but I paid to have a good time. I can have just as good of a time and pay less to go to school somewhere else.
Zettler is working and said she might enroll at Bowling Green State University's Firelands College, where tuition was $4,358 this year.
I want to know I am able to afford school Zettler said.
When looking at OU's budget, administrators said they try to balance cost against the quality of the university programs.
We talk about affordability a lot
said OU President Roderick McDavis. We're trying to say
'How can we begin to think about reducing tuition and fee increases while maintaining the quality of the product
of the academic programs?' That's the fine line we universities contributed to the growing need for tuition and student fee increases.
McDavis estimated that 65 percent of the university's budget comes from tuition and fees, while only 20 percent is drawn from state appropriations.
National efforts are being made to keep higher education affordable, including tuition freezes and articulation and transfer agreements, which allow students to more easily transfer credits from community colleges to four-year institutions. Congress recently increased the amount of money available through the Pell Grant, a federal program that provides need-based grants that can be used at more than 5,000 colleges and universities in the United States. It provides further support for students, said Rob Evans, press secretary for the Ohio Board of Regents, the coordinating board for higher education in Ohio.
When Ohio's tuition increases over the past four years are averaged, the effect is actually minimal, Evans said.
If you put together the two years of freezes and the two three-and-a-half percent (increase allowances) and look at them as a snapshot of time of higher education in Ohio
that is the lowest increase in tuition in Ohio as far as our records go back
which is a great accomplishment ... Evans said.
The national yearly average for tuition and fees at public universities rose from $3,508 to $7,020 from 2000 to 2009, a 200 percent increase, according to College Board. By comparison, OU's tuition and fees rose from $1,695 to $9,537 - a 563 percent increase - between 2000 and 2010, according to the Office of Institutional Research.
But the national median household income only increased 14 percent, from $42,054 to $48,011 between 2000 to 2008, according to census data. All numbers are the latest available.
'As affordable as it can be'
All of Ohio's 13 public universities have either proposed or approved at least one tuition increase since the freeze was lifted.
The largest percentage in proposed increases is at Ohio State University. The school could see a 3.5 percent increase for summer, an additional 3.5 increase for fall and a mandatory fee increase, all of which would raise yearly tuition and fees at OSU to $9,420 - an 8.5 percent increase in tuition and fees compared to this year.
Most public universities in Ohio have announced or proposed one 3.5 percent tuition increase; several have not yet finalized tuition rates for the upcoming school year.
As Ohio's public universities stand now, historically black Central State University offers the most inexpensive education with a yearly tuition rate of $5,479, while Miami University tops the list with a yearly tuition of $11,842. Miami may increase its tuition another 3 percent this fall.
(The choice to raise tuition) is definitely a decision that each (school) has to make
Evans said. They take their responsibility very seriously with an eye toward keeping college as affordable as it can be.
'The cost to students'
As the economic decline hit both universities and families nationwide, more students are taking an active role in preparing for the cost of college, and many are starting early.
Kyle Geier, a junior at Little Miami High School in Morrow, Ohio, works three jobs in addition to attending school and playing on the basketball team.
Geier works 30 or 35 hours each week at Kroger, Bel-Wood Country Club and Vacuum Concepts. The majority of his earnings goes directly into saving for college.
The junior, who is considering attending the University of Cincinnati to study information technology and computer security, said his higher education options would be limited if he were not saving now.
I know I would need to save; the economic situation hit my family hard
Geier said. I'm trying to get as much now as possible so the debt isn't as great.
Geier added that although he still expects to take out loans to help pay the cost of college, the money he is putting aside will help him breathe easier.
I'm confident that this is worth it
Geier said. If I weren't working
