Southeast's regents approve fee increases

~ In-state students will pay $197.50 per credit hour for tuition and general fees combined.

Students at Southeast Missouri State University will see a hefty increase in fees next school year, but slightly less than originally proposed by school officials.

The board of regents, meeting for the first time in the new music recital hall at the River Campus, voted Friday to raise tuition and general fees by $14 a credit hour for in-state students. In doing so, the regents trimmed $1.50 from the proposed general fees increase.

The board raised tuition by $9 a credit hour for in-state students and by $18 per credit hour for out-of-state undergraduates.

Southeast officials said the tuition increase is expected to raise more than $1.5 million to help cover rising expenses dealing with everything from the opening of the new River Campus and increased utilities to higher insurance costs and employee pay raises.

In addition, the regents increased general fees by $5 a credit hour.

In-state students will pay $197.50 a credit hour for tuition and general fees combined starting this fall semester. Out-of-state undergraduate students, who already are paying higher fees, will pay $344 a credit hour, school officials said.

Cultural arts fee

The regents scaled back the increased general fee by 50 cents a credit hour.

The board approved a new cultural arts fee to help pay projected expenses associated with the new River Campus arts school. But the regents cut back the fee from $2 to $1 per credit hour.

Board president Brad Bedell argued against imposing any per-credit-hour cultural arts fee for the inaugural year of the River Campus.

Bedell said that would give school officials an opportunity to track revenue and expenses and better determine how much to charge students in future years.

But regent Edward Matthews said it would be unwise for the board not to approve a cultural arts fee. "I think we are putting ourselves in a hole from the get-go," he said.

The $1-per-credit-hour fee will raise $200,000 to help pay for the first year of operation of the new River Campus, officials said.

Under the per-credit-hour plan put forth by the administration, students would be able to attend student performances for free and pay half-price to attend touring events.

Goal is to break even

School officials plan to pay the bulk of the cost of River Campus operations through internal budget reallocations.

The goal, said university president Dr. Ken Dobbins, is to break even when it comes to the cost of cultural performances and the revenue generated by such events.

In the end, the regents unanimously imposed the scaled-back cultural arts fee.

Regent Al Spradling III said that even with the fee increases, Southeast is a "very affordable university."

After raising fees, the board extended the university's current tuition guarantee policy through the 2011 spring semester. Under the policy, the university pledges tuition for in-state undergraduates won't increase by more than $400 a year based on 30 credit hours of classes over two semesters.

The regents also approved a new scholarship plan called the Southeast Family Achievement Award. The scholarships will be granted to academically eligible out-of-state students who are the children or grandchildren of Southeast graduates. The awards will allow out-of-state students to pay in-state fees, saving them money, school officials said.

The awards are expected to attract students who might otherwise not attend the school, officials said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123