Missouri college plans to reverse fee increase

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A Missouri college plans to rescind a fee increase for students after being told by Gov. Jay Nixon's administration that it would violate a statewide deal to freeze tuition next school year.

Administrators at Linn State Technical College said Wednesday that they will waive a fee increase of $3 per credit hour for courses taught at its central Missouri campus during the 2010-2011 academic year.

The college Board of Regents is to vote on the fee reversal June 25, just one month after the board approved it.

Missouri's public colleges and universities struck a deal last fall with Nixon to hold undergraduate tuition flat for state residents for a second straight year in exchange for receiving no more than about $50 million in cuts to their core state funding for 2010-2011.

The legislature upheld the deal by limiting the cuts in the budget it passed last month.

But there has been confusion among some college officials as to exactly what they agreed to do.

Officials at Linn State, for example, thought they were technically abiding by the agreement with their $3 per credit hour fee increase.

"It never was a tuition increase; it was a fee increase," said John Nilges, the college's vice president for administration and finance. "It's a very complex misunderstanding in terms of the agreement versus the Department of Higher Education versus the institutions."

After the fee increase was approved, officials in Nixon's office called both the college and the Department of Higher Education to suggest that the fee violated the tuition-freeze deal.

Nixon spokesman Scott Holste said the concern was the Linn State action would have been across the board. By contrast, Holste said charging fees that would apply to specific courses or activities would not violate the tuition-freeze agreement. That would apply to Linn State, Southeast Missouri State University and other universities statewide.

That means Linn State can keep two other fee increases also approved last month -- a $15 increase for uniforms used in some courses and a $100 fee increase for an automotive course involving Ford Motor Co.

The Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents approved last month a $30 per credit hour special course fee on undergraduate courses in athletic training, computer science and nursing that will go into effect fall 2010. The extra fee is expected to generate $184,000.

"I think the [governor[']s] spokesperson's statement describes the situation well," said Dr. Debbie Below, assistant vice president for enrollment management and director of admissions at Southeast Missouri State University.

Below said that Southeast's Missouri undergraduates have expressed appreciation for Nixon's decision not to raise in-state undergraduate tuition.

"Students and families have expressed a feeling of relief as a result of this decision," Below said. "Families do seem to be more conscious of the overall cost of education and they seem more likely to select a college based on the family's ability to finance the education. I am hopeful that this means fewer students will find themselves borrowing excessively to finance the cost of college."

At Southeast, Missouri undergraduate tuition will remain at $208.50 per credit hour. Nonresident students face a $10 increase to $373 per credit hour, a 2.9 percent increase.

The Associated Press and staff writer Brian Blackwell contributed to this story.

Pertinent addresses:

One University Plaza, Cape Girardeau, MO

1 Technology Dr, Linn, MO