Spring Break
Board of trustees ponder tuition hike
Miles Bryant
Issue date: 11/7/08 Section: News
In April next year, the UA board of trustees will meet in Little Rock to set a new price of tuition for the university.
With the recent economic downturn, American universities across the country have had to raise the price of students' educations, and the UA seems to be no different.
"The educational mission of the university costs more when energy costs and health care costs for employees increase, when average salaries increase to pay competitive salaries to faculty and staff, when deferred maintenance gets to the point it cannot be ignored, and when improvements to your education costs more," vice chancellor Don Pederson said.
And it's not only tuition fees that are running the UA. In fact, the majority of the university's revenue is actually from state appropriations.
"Tuition and fees amount to 41 percent of the educational and general revenue; state appropriations amount to 47 percent of the educational and general revenue; the remaining 12 percent is from a variety of sources including sales and services, which do not vary consistently from year to year," Pederson said.
Tuition fees did raise 5 percent last year, and students will have to wait until next year to see exactly how much tuition will increase again.
But while students wait, Pederson does the math to find a simple hypothesis.
"The economic downturn has the potential of reducing state tax revenues that provide 47 percent of our educational and general revenue," he said. "To the extent that state revenues do not meet the costs of operating the institution, tuition will have to increase."
As UA tuition increases, more and more students will also be applying for financial aid and student loans.
"We've had more students apply for aid this year," said Katie Wing, director of financial aid.
If students would like to apply for financial aid, they can fill out a FASFA (Free Application for Student Financial Aid).
"It's based on income for '07, obviously, because we don't have '08," Wing said. "If something drastic has happened to that family - for instance, a parent has lost a job or they've had huge medical bills that they have paid [that have not been covered by insurance] - they can fill out a form [called special circumstances] and provide documentation for whatever their situation is.
With the recent economic downturn, American universities across the country have had to raise the price of students' educations, and the UA seems to be no different.
"The educational mission of the university costs more when energy costs and health care costs for employees increase, when average salaries increase to pay competitive salaries to faculty and staff, when deferred maintenance gets to the point it cannot be ignored, and when improvements to your education costs more," vice chancellor Don Pederson said.
And it's not only tuition fees that are running the UA. In fact, the majority of the university's revenue is actually from state appropriations.
"Tuition and fees amount to 41 percent of the educational and general revenue; state appropriations amount to 47 percent of the educational and general revenue; the remaining 12 percent is from a variety of sources including sales and services, which do not vary consistently from year to year," Pederson said.
Tuition fees did raise 5 percent last year, and students will have to wait until next year to see exactly how much tuition will increase again.
But while students wait, Pederson does the math to find a simple hypothesis.
"The economic downturn has the potential of reducing state tax revenues that provide 47 percent of our educational and general revenue," he said. "To the extent that state revenues do not meet the costs of operating the institution, tuition will have to increase."
As UA tuition increases, more and more students will also be applying for financial aid and student loans.
"We've had more students apply for aid this year," said Katie Wing, director of financial aid.
If students would like to apply for financial aid, they can fill out a FASFA (Free Application for Student Financial Aid).
"It's based on income for '07, obviously, because we don't have '08," Wing said. "If something drastic has happened to that family - for instance, a parent has lost a job or they've had huge medical bills that they have paid [that have not been covered by insurance] - they can fill out a form [called special circumstances] and provide documentation for whatever their situation is.
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