Tuition to spike in coming years

Students and staff at Eastern are preparing for the worst, since learning Gov. Steve Beshear wants to cut funding for higher education an additional 12 percent as part of a plan to balance the state budget. While nothing has been officially announced yet, the greatest fear for most students is a tuition hike. "I think its important that students understand that it's a great possibility," said David Fifer, Eastern's student body president.

Fifer said a rise in tuition is among the options being discussed by the university's budget council, but that it was unlikely to be the only solution.

"If tuition were raised to make up the shortfall Beshear has proposed, we're talking double digits. For example, I know that UK would be facing a tuition hike of 30 percent," Fifer said.

President Whitlock confirmed that tuition will rise, even if the proposed cuts are not enacted into law.

"A modest tuition increase was in the works for the coming years even before the real and potential budget cuts entered the picture," Whitlock said. "The amount of a future increase will be driven, to some measure, by the size of any further state appropriation reduction for 2008-2009."

"I'm gonna be pissed off, because I pay out of pocket," said Whitney Centers, an education major from Berea. "I came to Eastern because the tuition was low," she said, adding that she will probably transfer to another school in the fall if tuition goes up. Affordability for students is foremost in the decision-making process, Whitlock said

"While Kentucky tuitions still remain a relative bargain in comparison to other states, we are very sensitive to the impact of our decisions on our students, their ability to attend and the decisions they make," he said.

Even students on scholarships were distressed about the possibility.

"If tuition goes up to $3,000 or more I would look for another school," said Brendan Tipton, an English major from Estill County. Although he has to pay other expenses such as housing, Tipton is on a regent scholarship, which only covers four years.

"That means I'll still have to pay more as a grad," he said.

Funding was already cut by 3 percent in December at Beshear's discretion. That equated to approximately $1.7 million that the university had to absorb, according to Fifer. More than half of that, about a million dollars, came from facilities services, which handles maintenance issues related to the aging buildings on campus. Both Whitlock and Fifer said that tuition increases alone would not be able to cover the funding which would be lost. Other options to deal with the budget shortfall include increasing classroom size.

"If worse comes to worse, we could have 40 students per class instead of 21," said Fifer, who said he hopes such a measure would only be used as a last resort.

"Research indicates that class size has a real impact on the quality of education," he said.

Whitlock indicated that changes may be made in personnel and that the university will achieve whatever reductions are necessary through attrition. A hiring freeze for faculty has been in place since the December cuts.

"Certainly the prime concern in any tuition increase is the impact on student access," Whitlock said. "Kentucky needs more students in colleges and universities and not fewer."

Any tuition increase will be effective with the fall 2008 semester, Whitlock said, although how much will not be known until at least April, when the state legislature will vote on the budget. The university will then decide what course to take.