Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The economic recession has forced states to cut their budgets, including funding for state universities. The University should be applauded for the “tuition compact” that they offer to incoming freshmen, which provides them with a fixed tuition rate for four years at the University.
According to a report issued by the College Board last month, four-year public colleges have raised their tuition fees on average by 6.5 percent. Private colleges, on average, have raised theirs 4.4 percent. The University raised its tuition fees 6 percent this year.
With the tuition compact, the University provides students with “a tuition per credit hour that is fixed or unchanged for four calendar years for an incoming freshman class,” Lynn Bretz, director of university communications, said. Tuition rates can continue to increase each year, but each class will pay only the tuition rate from their freshman year.
“The idea originated with students, who understood that costs would have to increase over the years, but they wanted tuition for four years to be predictable,” Bretz said. “They wanted to know what a four-year degree would cost them.”
The compact makes financial planning for students much more predictable.
Bretz said in-state students who were freshmen in Fall 2006 paid $5,513 annually in 2009. Now, as seniors in Fall 2009, they are paying $6,567. This is a difference of $1,054, which is a little less than a $265 per year increase.
“Freshmen who entered in fall 2007, Fall 2008 and Fall 2009 will see no increase in their tuition rate, thanks to the tuition compact,” Bretz said.
Freshmen who enrolled at the University in Fall 2009 will pay $7,359 annually for in-state tuition. Students paying out of state tuition will pay $19,327.50 per semester for the next four years, assuming they take 15 credit hours per semester.
This fixed compact was unprecedented before 2007.
Rates were only known two months before they went into effect, according to a press release issued by the University,. In the 30 years before 2007, tuition increases ranged from 0 to 25 percent per year, with the average being 9 percent.
Even with the tuition increase, the University’s funding is still hurting.
“KU’s budget was cut by $32.3 million in one year,” Bretz said. “The tuition increase passed in June by the Regents produced about $9.8 million in additional revenue, making up not quite one-third of the cut in state funding.”
But Bretz said that the increase helped the University cope with a major budget cut and that “it helped the KU administration protect the academic mission a much as possible.”
As the country slowly emerges from this economic recession, it is important to keep in mind that not only does the financial system need to be upgraded, but the public school system as well.
An educated America is vital and programs such as the tuition compact offered at the University help provide students with the opportunity of higher education at a predictable cost.
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