A few votes are keeping Ohio University and other state public universities from changing how they price education.
If approved by legislators in the state budget bill, universities could implement a guaranteed tuition model. It promises incoming in-state freshmen a flat tuition rate for four consecutive years. The amendment would also raise the state-mandated cap on university tuition increases.
OU is expected to adopt this model at its Board of Trustees meeting Friday but implementing it requires a legislative change. The language to do so is currently in the state’s budget bill, which rests in a conference committee. If approved by legislators, OU plans to implement the model no later than fall 2015, according to the Board of Trustees’ meeting agenda.
OU will calculate the flat rate by adding the historical average rate of inflation, which now rests at about 3 percent, to each year’s projected cost and dividing that total amount by four for a flat rate over four years.
“This doesn’t find state funding, this doesn’t cut university funds. It doesn’t do anything to solve the budget problem,” said Jacob Chaffin, senior studying education and OU Student Union representative.
If approved by trustees on Friday, a committee will be convened to iron out the finer details. But trustees will have to pass at least one more resolution to put the tuition model in place, said OU spokesperson Katie Quaranta.
Representatives on the committee will include those from the registrar, financial aid, residential life, and media relations offices as well as the Patton College of Education and the engineering department in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology.
The model could also inherently hike the rates for each incoming class.
The amendment allows a new cap for tuition increases calculated by adding the consumer price index and the state’s current maximum tuition increase rate — 3.5 percent.
Trustees could choose to not re-calculate the rate and instead adopt the costs from the previous school year and not increase tuition and room and board rates. But it’s more likely that they will raise it every year for incoming students, Quaranta said.
As university figures confirm, OU plans to increase the rate for every subsequent incoming class. The new rates will be posted online every year by June 30.
This flat rate will apply to in-state, full-time undergraduate and transfer students. But it won’t apply to graduate or out-of-state students, those who return to school after a period of time or tuition for study abroad students. These groups might be offered a flat rate down the road, Quaranta said.
OU’s tuition and general fee, room and board, and most course fees will also be included in the flat rate.
Students who are called to active military duty, withdraw from school for medical reasons or have a disability that affects their educations can ask for a flat tuition rate extension by filing with the Student-Tuition appeals committee.
The full Board of Trustees agenda can be viewed here: http://www.ohio.edu/custom_apps/onlinedocs/_documentGrabber.cfm?doc=FinalAgenda.June2013.pdf&loc=/trustees/agendas/
sj950610@ohiou.edu
