University of Memphis senior Adrian Wesley, an English major, isanxiously awaiting the Tennessee Board of Regent's (TBR) decisionon the amount the 2003-2004 tuition will be raised.
According to Charles Manning, TBR Chancellor, Wesley won't haveto wait long. The final decision on the tuition increase will cometomorrow, and will be between 9 and 14 percent. The University ofTennessee, which is not under TBR, already approved a 9 percentincrease. Manning himself is recommending a 14 percent increase forTBR schools.
Wesley has seen the price of tuition rise every year -- sevenand a half percent last year, 15 percent in 2001, 10 percent in2000, and between 5 and 6 percent in 1999.
"I'm disgusted," Wesley said.
Wesley expressed concern that the tuition decision is not madeuntil late June, while she had to apply for her loan in April.
"This affects a lot of students who try to plan how to fundschool. They overlook what the students think, but we are the onespaying for all this," Wesley said.
Manning said he sees the tuition increase differently.
"Most people think of it as a negative, but in this case it willallow us to offer more sections we wouldn't otherwise be able tooffer," Manning said.
According to Manning, understanding the whole picture meanspainting a broader picture -- the state funding and student costsare connected issues.
"When you talk about trickle down economics, we don't getanything down here," Manning said.
Supreme court decisions force state funding for K-12 andprisons, according to Manning, leaving higher education vulnerableas the "largest discretionary pool of money."
"When all of that lands on the student, that means a raise intheir tuition," Manning said.
One of the TBR's chief concerns, according to Manning, iskeeping the total dollars per student close to the dollars perstudent in peer schools because a sharp decrease would mean adecrease in educational quality.
"If these go on as they are --if we get the same money from thestate and the same number of students want to go to school out ofgraduating high schoolers, and we stick to our desire to staywithin 10 percent of our target dollar per student, then tuitionwill double in five years," Manning said.
Last spring, tuition costs for 12 or more semester hours came to$2,172, not including activity fees. A 14 percent increase wouldmean $304.08 extra, bringing the total for 12 or more credit hoursto $2476.08.
U of M President Shirley Raines commented on the situation lastJune, concerned about the upcoming budget cut that happened lastyear.
"Almost 69 percent of our students work to finance their owneducation," Raines said. "An increase in tuition would beespecially difficult for them."
New U of M director of financial aid, Richard Ritzman, said hehas been in the position for less than a week.
However, he said he is not worried about the outcome of thetuition decision.
"It's one of those things where we will have to wait and seewhat the final word will be," Ritzman said.
While it may be necessary to take out a larger loan, studentswill be able to cover their costs, according to Ritzman.
"As we put every student's financial aid package together weproject what their costs and needs will be, but when we get theactual word for the cost of tuition we can make changes as needed,"Ritzman said.
Ritzman said a student who is eligible for a Pell Grant with noestimated family contribution is set in the amount they are goingto receive from the federal government, but a student who isreceiving a direct student loan can increase the amount requestedonce the amount needed is final.
"What they are talking about, so I've heard, is 14 percentincrease and if that's what happens I don't think, for moststudents, it will make a significant difference," Ritzman said.
