Tuition raised 9.6 percent

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Tweet Sandte Stanley stood as the lone student speaking out against the tuition increase at Wednesday's MSU Board of Trustees meeting.

The psychology junior from Kansas is almost completely funding her own education with loans and is worried the 9.6 percent tuition increase will force her to return home for school.

"It's hard to pay for school and the tuition increase - I understand it had to happen," she said. "But the magnitude of it - our Board of Trustees needs to hear from a student's perspective, someone who's out in the trenches."

The increase for the 2007-08 school year means the typical in-state freshman or sophomore pays $798 more per year.

The hike is part of a $1 billion budget, which was determined using an estimated state appropriation of $286.9 million.

The trustees agreed they had done all they could to keep costs low, saying it was time to pass the budget crisis problem along to the state Legislature - and hope for good feedback.

Why so high?

Without knowing what kind of appropriations to expect from the state, MSU officials had to base the budget on evidence and values, MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said.

They assumed the aid received from the state would continue to decline.

The estimate was slated at a 1.8 percent decrease, for a total of $286.9 million.

"We're trying to preserve the reality of being one of the top 100 universities in the world," she said.

If state appropriations end up being more or less than expected, the new tuition figures would show up in the spring and summer bills, Simon said.

Last year, MSU ranked sixth for highest tuition in the Big Ten for a resident student and fourth for a nonresident.

The university ranked third highest for in-state tuition for Michigan public universities.

Many Michigan public universities, such as the University of Michigan, Grand Valley State University and Wayne State University, have yet to decide on tuition for the upcoming school year.

Michigan Technological University has set a 9.51 percent increase for the fall term, costing the average student $10,578 a year, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Last year, MSU approved a 5.9 percent tuition increase and an 8.5 percent financial aid increase.

The decision is right

Trustee Faylene Owen said the decision to raise tuition was the right thing to do.

For one, the increase was necessary to compete for the best faculty and to conduct the best research, she said.

And then, Owen said, it would put the responsibility for the increases on the state Legislature.

"These politicians say they want more and better higher education to advance the state's economy and to benefit our young people," Owen said.

Michigan ranks 42nd in the U.S. for appropriation increases to higher education in the past year, according to an Illinois State University study.

During a 10-year span, however, the state ranks 45th.

Owen said the Legislature continues to refuse to invest in higher education.

"What these legislators are doing - or refusing to do - is just dead wrong," she said.

If the Legislature followed Gov. Jennifer Granholm's recommendation of a 2.5 percent increase for higher education, tuition would be slated as a 6.4 percent increase instead of 9.6, Trustee Joel Ferguson said.

"This battle's not over," he said at the meeting. "We're really asking students and people of Michigan to put pressure on the Michigan Legislature to really put the future of our state first," he said.

The lone soldier

Although she said there are quality schools in Kansas, she wanted to attend a research university.

For now, she may have to take out more loans, double-up on shifts at her job - a conference assistant in housing and food services - and possibly even get a second job.

All to stay at MSU.

"It's on me," she said. "My education is on me."

Colleen Maxwell can be reached at maxwel79@msu.edu.

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