SOUTHEAST CONSIDERS FEE HIKE

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Tuition at Southeast Missouri State University could rise by as much as 10 percent next school year in the face of a budget crunch, university Provost Leslie Cochran said Wednesday.

Cochran's remarks came at a Faculty Senate meeting and echoed recent comments made by Southeast President Kala Stroup.

"It is likely that there will be a substantial increase in the tuition package," said Cochran.

In-state tuition alone now amounts to about $750 a semester. A student who attends school in the fall 1991 and spring 1992 semesters could end up paying a total of $1,650 in tuition, an increase of $150 over current tuition charges for the school year.

Under questioning from senators, Cochran said the university may not be able to afford any across-the-board pay raises for the coming fiscal year.

Faculty Senator Tim Rademaker said that point was also made by Stroup at a meeting with faculty members Tuesday.

Cochran emphasized that university officials have made no decisions yet regarding salaries.

As to faculty merit pay, the provost said that, with the current budget crunch, such pay will likely not be forthcoming in the 1992 fiscal year even if a merit pay plan is adopted.

"I'd say it would be unlikely that it would be implemented next year," noted Cochran.

The Faculty Senate has been working to adopt a merit pay plan in which such pay would only be awarded to eligible faculty in years when faculty receive a minimum 4 percent across-the-board pay hike.

Cochran said a tuition increase is likely in light of tight state finances and Gov. John Ashcroft's budget recommendations for the 1992 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Southeast would operate with no increase in state funding under Ashcroft's budget recommendations.

Ashcroft is recommending a state appropriation for Southeast of more than $31.7 million, which is more than $830,000 less than the $32.56 million in state funding initially appropriated for the university last year.

After an automatic withholding of 3 percent is taken into account, the spending level for Southeast would total $30.77 million.

That's the same level of funding Southeast is receiving in the current fiscal year as a result of almost $1.8 million in cuts in state funding for the institution, university officials have said.

Cochran said that on top of the $800,000 or 2.5 percent cut in the base appropriation proposed by the governor, university officials anticipate health insurance costs may jump 25 percent, which would amount to an additional $300,000.

The university is also faced with spending another $150,000 to pay the cost of promotions and reclassifications of existing personnel, Cochran said.

Based on current enrollments for fall and spring semesters, Cochran said, every 1 percent increase in tuition would generate about $100,000.

A 10 percent hike would generate about $1 million, the provost pointed out.

In 1980, 19 percent of the state budget went to higher education. "This year, it's approximately 14 percent," said Cochran.

He noted that there is a major piece of legislation in the Missouri Senate which calls for raising taxes to increase funding for both higher education and elementary and secondary education. The proposed tax package would raise $494 million in additional money for education.

But, he said, such a tax measure would require voter approval. Even if approved by voters next November, money from such a tax would not be available until the 1992-93 school year.

"The next two years (will be) extremely lean years," he predicted.

Faculty Senator Shelba Branscum, who chairs the senate's faculty compensation committee, wondered why the committee should offer any compensation proposal "if there is no way on Earth we will see salary increases."

But Cochran said the committee should still offer a salary proposal even though funding is uncertain.