SEMO regents approve tuition increase

Tuition and fees for in-state undergraduates will rise 4.8 percent at Southeast Missouri State University in the 2011-2012 academic year, among the lowest tuition increases of Missouri's four-year institutions of higher education.

The university's board of regents Friday unanimously approved the increase, while asking the administration to mark about $450,000 in better-than-expected state appropriations for need-based student aid, particularly for students at financial risk of leaving school.

Students will pay $10 more per credit hour, or about $150 more per semester for those taking 15 credits.

The board approved a $3 boost in incidental fees, added on to $7 per credit hour in previously approved general fees to pay for campus improvements and the university's aquatic center. Some of the fee increases have been frozen over the past two years.

In-state undergraduates will pay a total of $218.50 per credit hour, including incidental and general fees, beginning in the fall semester.

The tuition increase could have been steeper. The board approved increasing incidental fees in fiscal 2011 by $5 per credit hour, a rate tied to the Consumer Price Index. That raise, however, was not assessed to students, though it could be at a later time.

Southeast's tuition will remain lower than almost every comparable university in the region, according to Kathy Mangels, the university's vice president for finance and administration. Southeast's incidental fees, or tuition, for fiscal year 2012, at $187.80 per credit hour for in-state undergraduates, will be less than the University of Missouri-Columbia's rate of $261.60 per credit hour, Truman State University's rate of $277.34, and Missouri State University's rate of $194, according to a Southeast news release. Northwest Missouri State will have the lowest tuition in the next academic year, at $167.55 per credit hour, although its general fees are significantly higher, according to a cost comparison chart provided by Southeast.

Kathy Love, spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Higher Education, said tuition increases at both Northwest Missouri State and Truman State are lowest among the four-year institutions, at 1.8 percent and 4.7 percent respectively.

Southeast's nonresident undergraduate students will be charged an additional $6.50 per credit hour; Missouri graduate students will pay $4 more per credit hour; and nonresident graduate students will see an $8 per credit hour increase. The new incidental fee rates charged will be $355.80 per credit hour for nonresident undergraduates; $241.30 for Missouri graduate students; and $449.80 for nonresident graduate students.

The board also approved a 2 percent pay increase for university employees, part of an overhaul of Southeast's merit pay system. Wages have been frozen for two years.

"For our faculty, that was very good, because there was a low morale with raises not happening for a couple of years," said Sophia Scott, a professor in the Department of Industrial and Engineering Technology and outgoing chairwoman of Southeast's Faculty Senate.

Southeast got some budgetary wiggle room after the legislature came in with a 5.4 percent reduction for Missouri higher education, lower than the 7 percent proposed by Gov. Jay Nixon. That would add about $750,000 in state appropriations that the university's budget review committee hadn't counted on in making its budget assumptions.

The university has trimmed its operating budget, realized savings and added revenue through programming in recent years to prepare for declines in state appropriations. Those moves, along with what Mangels describes as a "minimal" student fee increase, put Southeast in a position to cover the $1.18 million cost of the 2 percent increase to the merit salary pool and rising expenses. Operational costs are expected to climb about $730,000 in the next year, much of it driven by rising utility expenses.

"Ameren told us to expect more than a 12 percent increase," Mangels said. "With the city utilities, based on their planned construction of a water treatment plant, they are actually saying that they will be doubling their rates."

The financial cushion also will fund program enhancements, assessment testing and new positions, particularly in the operation of Southeast's website, now at 50,000-plus pages.

"I think we've squeezed all the water out of the washcloth that's going to come out," Brad Bedell, president of the board of regents, said of the university's efforts to minimize the effects of declining state appropriations.

Bedell requested the $450,000 in better-than-expected state funding to go to need-based aid, a position supported by Southeast president Dr. Ken Dobbins.

"We need to be not only the university of first choice but one that's very affordable," Bedell said.

mkittle@semissourian.com

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