Ohio University trustees recognized the necessity of another tuition increase during a committee meeting Thursday, but not without questioning when the pattern of hiking student costs would break.
If OU’s Board of Trustees approves a 3.5 percent undergraduate tuition increase for next year during its full-board meeting Friday, it will be the fourth consecutive increase since Winter Quarter 2010. The 3.5 percent increase would also apply to the General Fee, which funds non-academic units.
“I recognize that the current increase is necessary, I fully accept that,” said national trustee Henry Heilbrunn. “I am looking forward to the next four years and seeing if there is a way to disrupt the pattern.”
With a 3.5 percent increase, the maximum amount allowed by Ohio law, tuition would jump to about $10,215 yearly, up from the current rate of $9,870.
“The key thing for today is that we have a level of quality at the university that we are trying to maintain,” said OU President Roderick McDavis. “Without adequate support from state revenue, we are struggling to find another revenue source in the short term.”
OU would use the revenue generated by a tuition increase to fund certain investments on its “wish list,” including safety maintenance projects, funding for instructional equipment, increased campus Internet bandwidth and additional class sections. The university is projecting a $5 million budget gap for next year if it is to fund the desired investments on its list.
Other investments the university would like to build into next year’s budget include additional financial aid, as well as additional funding for student recruitment and retention, said Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit.
“We’ve been discussing as to whether there are investments on the list that can be one-time investments … or that can be put off as opposed to being in next year’s budget,” Benoit said.
Although OU is facing a budget gap next year because of increasing costs for the university, the state is not cutting its subsidy for public universities next year.
“We are working very hard to not go back to a cycle of budget cuts,” Benoit said. “The tuition increase will be tied very much to strategic investments.”
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