Students at Mississippi State University should expect to see an extra 6 to 6.3 percent tuition increase in 2011. In a teleconference Monday, the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning approved 4 to 9 percent increases state for universities in the state.
Freshman pre-architecture student Tuesdai Johnson said she is like many students – working hard to pay tuition as it is.
“I think it’s outrageous,” she said. “I’m going to be here for five years and that’s a lot of money.”
The tuition increase is a response to Gov. Haley Barbour’s drastic cut to higher education. At MSU, this is an increase of about $154 for full-time in-state students and $410 for full-time non-resident students.
In a video update released Monday, President Mark Keenum said he made a presentation to the commissioner of higher education which was then presented to the full IHL board. The presentation outlined the university’s plan to get through the difficult budget days in fiscal years 2011 and 2012.
“That was an accumulation of a lot of hard work from our select Committee on Efficiencies and Innovations at Mississippi State,” he said. “The committee was formed back in October with the charge of coming up with ideas on how we can move our university forward to become more efficient and more focused in what we do, while maintaining the quality of our services and our programs.”
Director of Housing and Residence Life Ann Bailey said a decision from the IHL on room and board plan fees are usually made later in the semester.
“IHL has not called for room-and-board plan fee proposals for the 2010-2011 academic year as of yet,” she said. “Thus, we do not know the impact of the tuition increase at this time.”
Executive director and resident district manager of MSU Dining Services Jason Nall said tuition rate increase is a separate entity from room and board rates.
“Speaking on behalf of board rates, CPI price index, specifically the ‘food away from home’ price index factors, typically dictates meal plan price increase considerations as does labor wage and hour cost data,” he said.
Director of admissions and scholarships Philip Bonfanti said the president and administration are very sensitive to tuition. He said most students’ existing scholarships will not adjust to the changes in tuition.
“Everything we’re putting into place will primarily affect incoming students because we don’t have the ability to adjust existing scholarships,” Bonfanti said.
Junior architecture major Katie Mackabee said she is not looking forward to the rising prices of living.
“It’s going to make everyone work a little bit harder because scholarships are going to be more competitive,” she said.
Mike McGrevey, vice president for finance and administration, said the president moved very cautiously and reworked proposed plans in an attempt to find alternatives to avoid a tuition increase. He said the process of budgeting involves taking a lot of data and forecasting growth and tuition.
“We’re having to respond to a soft economy out there,” he said. “We had to find a way to make this work without compromising academic excellence and student experience, and we wanted to do it without increasing tuition, but we couldn’t.”
An education is not about getting a piece of paper, but about finding value in yourself, McGrevey said.
Faculty, staff and students, like Student Association President Blake Jeter, were engaged in developing plans to manage cuts without compromising student activities or safety.
“The whole university experience, the development of a person and building of pride and leadership skills, are important,” Jeter said. “The most important things are education, growth and a safe environment.”
McGrevey said the impact of the changes made because of the budget cuts should be transparent.
In a report released after his first 100 days, Keenum said state resources account for approximately 29 percent of MSU’s more than $650 million annual budget. He also said the university has a goal of expanding enrollment to 22,000 students by 2015. In fall of 2009, there were 18,601 enrolled.
Keenum said in Monday’s video more students will generate more revenue, but that will only cover about 20 percent of the amount the university expects to be lacking. The other 80 percent will be recovered in savings and efficiencies.
“It’s going to be hard on my family,” Mackabee said. “I have a younger sister who’s going to be up here in another year and that’ll be two of us with tuition.”