State audit shines light on rising costs at Southeast, other public universities

Net tuition and fees per full-time-equivalent student at Southeast Missouri State University increased 24 percent from fiscal 2009 to 2015, despite a statewide tuition cap, a state audit shows.

According to Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway, net tuition and fees per full-time student climbed from $6,466 to $8,009 at Southeast over the seven-year period.

Southeast Missouri State University showed the fifth-highest percentage increase in net tuition and fees per full-time student among Missouri’s 13 public universities.

Missouri Western State University showed the highest rise at 51 percent. The University of Missouri-Columbia showed a 31 percent jump, according to the report.

The findings are part of a recent report that looked at the funding and affordability of public higher education in Missouri.

The increased burden on students has occurred even though a 2007 Missouri law restricts the schools from raising in-state undergraduate tuition and “required fees” to more than the consumer price index, Galloway said.

Southeast officials said those numbers don’t tell the whole story.

The cost to students, as calculated in the audit, includes supplemental course fees that are not paid by all students. It also factors in tuition and fees paid not just by in-state undergraduates, but also charges incurred by out-of-state undergraduates, international students and graduate students.

Kathy Mangels, vice president of finance and administration at Southeast, said tuition and general fees for Southeast’s in-state undergraduates rose by 6.9 percent during the seven-year period, well within the allowed cap.

In-state undergraduate tuition per full-time student at Missouri’s public universities overall increased by 9.21 percent over the seven years, the lowest in the nation, the state auditor’s

report shows.

Mangels said the cap on tuition and general fees or “required fees” under state law applies only to in-state undergraduate students, which make up the majority of students.

She said the law does not restrict supplemental course fees, student abroad fees or fees approved by a vote of the student body.

But Mangels said Southeast seeks to keep student costs as low as possible.

“We understand affordability is a huge factor for students trying to make that college decision,” she said.

The university, however, has to cover its costs of operation, she said.

“We are a business that has a lot of labor costs,” Mangels said.

While the consumer price index rose by about 1.8 percent a year, in-state undergraduate tuition in Missouri rose about 1.6 percent.

But the audit also found when costs for all students were considered, net tuition and fees at Missouri’s 13 public, four-year universities increased by an average of 25 percent per full-time student during that time period.

According to Galloway, state spending for higher education has decreased by $1,500 per student. Schools, as a result, have been forced to cut costs and hike fees, she reported.

Mangels said Southeast has cut costs in academic and nonacademic areas and generated more revenue as a result of increased enrollment.

Galloway called on state lawmakers to re-evaluate the tuition-cap law and look at whether to expand the cap to include other student-paid fees.

Local lawmakers agreed the legislature should look at whether to amend the law.

State Reps. Kathy Swan and Donna Lichtenegger and state Sen. Wayne Wallingford said the auditor’s report is a starting point for lawmakers to look at the college-affordability issue.

But the local lawmakers so far have not called for adding more fee restrictions.

“I think we should revisit that,” Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau, said of the tuition-cap law. “Colleges have gotten more expensive all across the nation.”

College programs today, such as lab courses, are more expensive because the equipment is more expensive, he said.

Swan, R-Cape Girardeau, said schools have “a little wiggle room” under the law to generate the revenue needed to educate students.

“We are going to have to look at the whole big picture,” Swan said. “There is not an easy yes or no answer.”

She said lawmakers may want to take into account what jobs are needed in Missouri in deciding on future state funding for universities. That suggestion has merit, Wallingford and Lichtenegger said.

Lichtenegger, R-Jackson, said she plans to meet this week with Galloway to discuss college-affordability issues. College costs for students are “just ridiculous,” she said.

Lichtenegger said Missouri’s public universities seem to have ever-growing administrative expenses.

“We need to look at it. It seems like we have more administrators than workers,” she said.

But she said even with rising student costs, Missouri’s public colleges still have some of the lowest tuition and fee rates in the nation.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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