Proposed tuition hike rejected by Trustees

The University's Board of Trustees struck down the administration's proposed undergraduate tuition and fee increase Friday, lowering the hike to 6.7 percent. The Trustees' Executive Board, which makes the final decision on tuition and fees, voted against President Sheldon Hackney's proposed 6.9 percent increase to undergraduate tuition and fees, keeping next year's rate of increase identical to this year's. Several long-standing administrators said Friday they could not remember any other time when Trustees have rejected the administration's tuition and fees proposal. To compensate for the slight decrease in anticipated revenue, the Trustees agreed to a $6.7 million budget deficit, $700,000 more than Hackney proposed in his preliminary budget presentation. The 6.7 percent increase will raise the cost of an undergraduate education to $15,894. The percentage is still a break in the University's four-year trend of lowering the rate of undergraduate tuition and fees increases. At Friday's meeting, University administrators proposed raising undergraduate tuition and fees by 6.9 percent for the next school year to counter the effects of Governor Robert Casey's proposed $18.6 million budget funding cut to the University. Hackney said Friday the University would have raised tuition 6.5 percent were it not for Casey's cuts. Hackney said the 6.9 percent increase would have provided the University with an additional $700,000 in revenue. This is the money the Trustees decided to add to Hackney's proposed $6 million deficit. Trustees Chairperson Alvin Shoemaker said after Friday's meeting the Trustees decided to lower the rate of increase in order to keep the University affordable. Shoemaker said administrators proposed a $6 million deficit because they thought that figure was the greatest loss the Trustees would approve. But he said the Trustees agreed maintaining the trend of lowering undergraduate tuition and fees increases was a priority for the University. "There is a concern on the part of the Trustees about the ability of students and parents to afford the University," Shoemaker said. "We wanted to support the administration by trying to keep that as low as possible." Hackney said he was not surprised by the Trustees' decision because "they have been worried about tuition increases for some time." He said that although their rejection of the proposal was unusual, it is typical of the "out of the ordinary circumstances" the University will face next fiscal year. Undergraduate Assembly Tuition Committee Chairperson Mitchell Winston said yesterday he is "delighted" by the Trustees' decision, calling it a "tremendous victory for the students." "I honestly feel the work of the UA had a direct impact on bringing [the increase] back down," College sophomore Winston said. "It shows students can make a difference." Winston, who appealed to the Trustees to lower the tuition and fees increase on Friday, said their move shows they are committed to lowering the costs for students. Hackney mistakenly told students last week that the administration had planned before Casey's announcement to raise undergraduate tuition and fees by 6.7 percent, but said Friday he actually intended to recommend a 6.5 percent hike. That figure would have been just under the increase for this academic year, and would have been the lowest percentage increase in more than 15 years. The full board must approve the rest of Hackney's budget proposal at its June meeting. Both Hackney and Shoemaker said they are confident Trustees will agree to the plan, which also includes cutting 300 faculty and staff positions and halting most University development and renovations.