A tuition freeze proposal for every public Illinois university will be voted on by the end of this week by the Illinois General Assembly.
Sen. Martin Sandoval of Cicero has proposed a bill that would freeze tuition rates for incoming freshmen for at least the next two years.
According to staff member Dan Johnson-Weinberger, the senator said tuition in Illinois is unaffordable and the General Assembly should be able to decide on tuition rates, which is something it has done in the past.
The tuition freeze would help drive down costs for students to attend universities, according to Sandoval’s office.
But those on the university level feel SIUE should decide whether they raise or lower tuition next year, not the state. Dave Gross, SIU executive assistant for Government Affairs, said tuition is a major component of the university’s revenue stream.
“[The senate bills] are of great concern to the university,” Gross said. “That’s [tuition] where the university makes their revenue.”
Two state senate bills, Senate Bill 114 and Senate Bill 135, both propose a tuition freeze for every incoming freshmen in the state of Illinois.
Gross said the SIU Board of Trustees is also discussing a 9 percent tuition increase for incoming freshmen next year, but even with that increase SIUE will have the lowest tuition and fees in the state.
SIU President Glenn Poshard will make a recommendation to the board for a tuition increase in the amount of 7-9 percent. This increase will help the university pay faculty salaries and other university expenses and would be for incoming freshmen only, according to Gross. The vote will not be taken until the May BOT meeting, Gross said.
Student Body President Brandon Rahn said the university’s Board of Trustees, which are appointed by the Illinois governor, would be better suited to decide on tuition increases than the state government.
“Who knows how to better run the universities than the people appointed by the state to run it,” Rahn said.
Rahn said although the university implemented a voluntary tuition freeze for incoming freshmen for the 2010-2011 school year, it is not something that can be done for an extended period of time.
“It sounds good on the surface, but [it’s] not going to help university revenue,” Rahn said.
Rahn said guaranteed tuition sounds good for students but that it would mean instead of stretching tuition increases over a period of years, one giant increase would happen once the tuition freezes stopped.
Incoming freshmen would have an accelerated increase in tuition once the freeze was over, according to Rahn.
Gross said each individual university is in the best position to decide how to deal with cash flow.
So far the state has paid $147 million of the $220 million it owes to the university with only four months left in the fiscal year, according to Gross. The amount of money received is only 25 percent of appropriations.
The state has cut appropriations back to how much the university received in 1999. The state has to start paying funding operation increases or tuition has to make up those losses, according to Gross. Edwardsville has low running costs, according to Gross, but the university needs to have enough money to run.
“State regulated mandates have not worked,” Gross said. “We really need the state legislature to start paying in some appropriations.”
SIUE still has the lowest tuition rates and fees in the state, according to Rahn.
“We’re doing incredible things for the university to reflect in the students’ degree,” Rahn said. “We have to make quality progress, but the state continues to cut our budget.”
For more information on the senate bills, visit www.ilga.gov.