Despite the recent announcement of an undergraduate tuition increase, administrators say Saginaw Valley State U. remains committed to keeping education affordable.
On June 14, the Board of Control announced the budget for the 2011 fiscal year. The approved budget included a 5.9% tuition increase for undergraduate students. Students will pay $243.63 per credit hour for tuition and mandatory fees in comparison to $230 per credit paid hour last year.
J.J. Boehm, Director of Media Relations, said that over the past decade there has been a steady gradual decline in state support for higher education. SVSU’s state appropriations have decreased by over $700 per student in the last 10 years.
“What has happened over time is that there is a shift in who pays the bills,” said Boehm. “In 2001 the cost was split 50/50 between the state and the students. At that time SVSU received $4,297 per student from the state. In 2010, that amount dropped to $3,563 per student.”
Even with decreased state funding, SVSU remains the most affordable public university in the state of Michigan.
“Many areas of the university have worked diligently to control the growth of program and administrative costs,” says James Muladore, Vice President of Administration and Business Affairs. “Overall, I believe the university stays dedicated to its mission and does not stray from its fundamental objectives.”
SVSU is also committed to not compromise what takes place in the classroom due to a lack of funds, Boehm said. Departmental operating budgets have been frozen for the upcoming year and will receive the same amount as the last fiscal year.
“We understand that any increase in tuition places an additional burden on students and families,” Boehm said. “However, our students deserve the highest quality education we can provide them.”
Boehm said there needs to be balance between the demand of students to receive a quality education and their desire for education to be as affordable as possible, even as state appropriations decline.
SVSU President Eric Gilbertson said that other Michigan universities will announce their decisions on tuition rates in the next few weeks.
“We do not yet know what all of the other universities in Michigan are doing with tuition,” Gilbertson said. “At this point, we are only aware that Michigan Tech increased its tuition by 5.9%, and the Eastern Michigan did not increase its tuition.”
Gilbertson explained that even with SVSU’s increase it is still below the tuition levels charged by these and the other Michigan universities.
“Students choose colleges for a variety of reasons, tuition charges are only one of them,” said Gilbertson. “We certainly believe, however, that SVSU’s tuition should be an attractive consideration for students when they are making a choice between institutions.”
Even as tuition rates increase, SVSU works to reduce costs in other areas to keep tuition affordable. Utility costs play a large role in this effort.
“Our utility costs are $1 million less per year as compared to the average public university in Michigan,” Boehm said. “Little things such as having motion sensors on lights and installing the new Aqua Thermal boiler system help to cut costs.”
The University also participates in a liability and property insurance consortium with other universities. This saves an excess of $300,000 per year.
The tuition increase had no correlation with the construction that took place this summer. Boehm said that the new Health and Human Services building is a state funded project.
“The state still provides funds for capital projects,” Boehm said. “The state contributed $21 million for the Health and Human Services building which was 75% of the total cost.”
The state only provides funds for academic buildings, Boehm said. Changes such as the dining services expansion and bookstore renovation are not funded by the state.
Although tuition is increasing, scholarships and financial aid will also increase by 8.5% to $9.7 million.
“We had to increase the budget to ensure that students receive the scholarships they were promised,” Boehm said. “If students already have a scholarship from the university, that amount is being increased by a greater percent.”
Muladore explained that in order for the scholarship budget to increase, other budget allocations will not be increased.
Some SVSU parents realize the changing economic climate and are not upset by the tuition increase. Laurie Spencer, mother of exercise science sophomore Erin Spencer, said that it is an admirable gesture that SVSU strives to have the lowest tuition in the state.
“For some families the tuition increase might be a hardship, but overall SVSU still provides a good value for education,” Spencer said.
For some SVSU students, the tuition increase will impact their already tight funds.
“The average person has less money to spend, yet expenses continue to climb. It’s definitely rough,” creative writing and PTW sophomore Marlin Jenkins said. However, Jenkins was pleased that SVSU’s tuition remains the lowest in the state.
“It’s not easy trying to come up with the money, but I can only assume that this goal shows that the University cares enough about its students and that they realize how tough it is.”
State funding of higher education remains questionable for the upcoming years, Muladore said.
“We are preparing as best we can for the future by maintaining reserves and controlling expenditure growth.”