SEMO regents raise tuition for fall semester

Tuition and general fees will go up by nearly 8.5% in the upcoming fall semester for in-state undergraduates at Southeast Missouri State University, from $267.50 to $290.50 per credit hour.

In its Thursday meeting, the SEMO Board of Regents approved the increase while voting to eliminate several general fees and rolling those costs into tuition as a revenue replacement.

"Students are beginning to prefer flexible delivery modalities for their education, and we didn't want the fees to be a barrier to student choices," said Brad Sheriff, vice president of finance and administration.

"We were seeing increasing frustration from students about what the fees are and how they were being applied," he added.

Of the 13 four-year public universities in Missouri, SEMO will rank eighth in tuition and fees in the 2021-2022 academic year, according to information supplied by the university.

SEMO's tuition and general fees will total $4,357.50 in Fall 2021, more expensive than Truman State, Lincoln University, Missouri Southern, Missouri Western and Harris Stowe.

The most expensive four-year public university in the Show Me State is Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, Missouri, at $5,696.25 per semester beginning in the fall.

"From a 'sticker price' perspective, (SEMO) tends to be sit in the middle of our (university) competitors," said Sheriff, who assumed his post in August.

Regent Lloyd Smith said university administration should remember the demographics of southeast Missouri in setting student costs.

"We're not a fast-growing area like southwest Missouri (and) we should be careful about the signal we send to our service area," Smith said.

Regent James Limbaugh applauded the move away from general fees.

"I think it's a nice cleanup (and) it's full disclosure to students," said Limbaugh, adding, "trying to find a price point to find the lowest-cost education option is an inexact science."

Favorable finances

Sheriff told the Regents the original budget projection for fiscal year 2021 called for a nearly $8 million deficit.

Instead, Southeast is financially in the black.

"The bottom line is we are ahead of budget right now by $13.5 million, which is a harbinger of good things," he said.

Sheriff said SEMO has benefited by a release of state appropriations and unanticipated federal COVID relief funding.

He noted on the expense side of the ledger, SEMO is realizing considerable savings in terms of compensation and benefits to faculty and staff plus lower student labor expenditures -- a savings Sheriff credited to "managing position vacancies."

Teacher survey

Diane Wood, biology professor, presented the Faculty Senate report, noting a recent survey with 180 responses.

"Faculty morale has been relatively low," Wood said, citing compensation and benefits, shared governance with administration, work-life balance and communication as areas of concern.

"The survey indicates a general fear (by faculty) of retribution, bullying and threats to employment loss," she added.

Calling it "an opportunity for everyone," Wood proposed adding a faculty representative to the Regents board plus a 360-degree consultant-led review of the university president to be done in three-year cycles.

Wood also proposed suspending the SEMO football program for five years to build university financial reserves and the elimination of Southeast's regional campuses due to "chronically low enrollment."

State lawmakers lauded

President Carlos Vargas-Aburto, who came to SEMO in 2015, thanked both houses of the Missouri Legislature for their commitment to higher education in Fiscal Year 2022 by saluting the passage of two bills bringing more money to SEMO.

"House Bill 3 will bring a 3.7% core increase to all four-year public universities," said Vargas, which he said will mean an additional $1.7 million for SEMO's coffers.

Vargas pointed to another bill, House Bill 19, which he said will provide $5 million for capital improvements to help Southeast complete repairs and improvements to its underground steam tunnel system.

Both bills await Governor Parson's signature.

Student input

Logan Phillips, a junior and outgoing president of the Student Government Association, told the Regents the "year of COVID" has been trying for everybody.

"Students are relieved the semester is over, and a sense of normalcy is returning to campus," he said.

Jeff Long is part-time faculty at Southeast.