Students may face a larger fee bill next semester from proposed tuition and operational fee increases, and many are wondering where that money is headed. State Rep. Patricia Smith, D-Baton Rouge, and state Rep. Donald Trahan, R-Lafayette, proposed House bills this past week which would give authority to the LSU Board of Supervisors and the Louisiana Board of Regents to increase students’ tuition and operational fees. Jason Droddy, assistant vice chancellor of Legislative and External affairs, said the tuition increase would help provide a 4 percent faculty pay increase, and the operational fee increase would go toward “quality improvements.” If both bills are approved, students will see a 5 percent increase in tuition and a $170 increase in the operational fee. “You have to keep what you have,” Droddy said. The extra revenue from the operational fee would provide new faculty positions, graduate assistant support, counselors and advisers. The increase would also add $1 million to the general scholarship fund, improve information technology and libraries, improve facility maintenance and provide an extra 2 percent faculty pay raise. “LSU is trying to improve its retention and graduation rates significantly,” Droddy said. “They’re formulating a plan, and as a part of that plan, more counselors and advisers are needed.” These improvements would provide students with more counselor availability, easier access to information and allow counselors to get to know students on a more personal level, Droddy said. LSU System President John Lombardi told the House Education Committee on April 2 that LSU is one of America’s top public research universities. Lombardi said the University is the only public major research university in Louisiana, and it struggles to compete with other schools because it lacks the resources that many of its competitors have. “We look to finding ways to get more investment,” Lombardi said. “Some of it we would like to have from the state, some of it we have to generate through gifts, … corporate support and foundation support.” Robert Kuhn, associate vice chancellor for Budget and Planning, said the University is required to submit a budget request to the state legislature. “We’re asked to list our needs … [and] how much it costs,” Kuhn said. He said the University needs about $118 million next school year. Droddy said the list on the University’s budget request is parallel to where the proposed fee increases would go. Kuhn said the fee increases were proposed because student enrollment has been declining. In 2002, 31,582 students were enrolled at the University – the highest enrollment since 1980. During the 2007 fall semester, the student enrollment was 28,019. Kuhn said he expects the number to decrease by about 700 students for the 2008 fall semester. Full-time undergraduate resident students paid $2,350.70 for spring 2008, according to the Budget and Planning Web site. If both the tuition and operational fee increases are approved, students would pay about $2,635 in the fall. Among the nation’s 50 flagship universities, LSU ranks No. 46 in tuition and fees for the 2007-2008 school year with $4,543. Penn State tops the list with $12,844. If the tuition and operational fee increases are approved, the University will rank 40 – if all the other flagship universities’ costs remain constant. Kuhn said TOPS only covers tuition costs. Additional fees, such as the academic excellence fee and the operational fee, are not covered by TOPS. But if tuition increases, Kuhn said TOPS will also increase to compensate. “We realize it’s more beneficial for the student if it’s [a] tuition [increase],” Kuhn said. “TOPS is not an appropriation to the institution [from the state], it’s financial assistance to the student between the state and the student.” The Student Required Fee Committee also approved two additional fee increases. Both will be effective for fall 2009 – the Student Health Center services fee and the University Student Recreational Complex fee. If these fees are approved by the Board, the student health services fee will increase by $20 each year for three years reaching a total of $180 in 2012, and the Rec fee would increase from $45 to $75. The University has a plan to help those students who have financial problems. Students who are considered “hardship” students are exempt from paying any fee increases. Kuhn said the University defines “hardship” students as anyone who receives a full Pell Grant. If a student receives the full grant, the University automatically exempts them from paying fee increases. Acting Chancellor William Jenkins said the University must have the best technology and best faculty. “I’m never comfortable asking students to pay more in tuition and fees,” Jenkins said. He said if the state expects to have a major research university, he wants the state to appropriate more funds for the school. For the 2007-2008 school year, the state gave $34.5 million in additional funds to supplement the University by providing faculty and staff pay increases, creating new faculty positions, providing scholarships and enhancing campus information technologies and library materials. In Gov. Bobby Jindal’s executive budget for 2008-2009, the University will receive $8.59 million dollars – $25.91 million less – which does not provide pay raises for faculty and staff. Kuhn said pay raises for faculty are merit-based. If professors have done well during the school year, the department chair has the ability to reward them with a pay raise. Kuhn also said students play a part in providing professors with pay raises. The evaluations students fill out at the end of each semester help the department chairs determine which professors will receive a raise. “Those faculty who are meritorious should be rewarded for their efforts,” Kuhn said. “That’s what we’re trying to do here.” The faculty has received a rising percentage increase in pay since 2002. Faculty members received a pay raise of 3 percent in 2002. In 2007, the raise was 6 percent. “We want … to make the quality improvements to make your education better,” Droddy said. “That’s our goal, to make your experience better, but on the other side, we have to be concerned about the cost.” Droddy said if students do not want to pay the extra fees, the University cannot put extra counselors in colleges and do other things to help students. “The name of the game for a high-powered university is revenue,” Lombardi said. Lombardi said while it is important for the University to be good with students, have high standards and win football games, none of it is possible without generating revenue. “How low can you make [fees] and still do the things that you need to do?” Droddy said. Kuhn said if the University can achieve the Flagship Agenda’s goals, the more valuable students’ degrees will be. He said students will be able to see more counselors, have more sections of classes and a lower student-teacher ratio if the Board approves the fee increases. “I’ll do anything I can in my power to increase appropriations [from the state] to reduce student fees,” Jenkins said. “If we are the flagship university, We should be furnished with higher appropriations.”
—-Contact J.J. Alcantara at [email protected]
Higher fees aim to help students
April 7, 2008