Rising fees may squeeze students
Rising fees may squeeze students: Idaho universities say they need more money to maintain buildings, hire faculty and cover grow
Mar 30, 2008
Bill Roberts, Idaho Statesman
This could be a record year for 26-year-old Gabe Murphy.
He's never paid more for a gallon of gas. Food prices are shooting to the sky. And he could end up paying more than ever for a year of education at Boise State University.
A sagging economy on top of rising prices hasn't deterred Idaho's four-year colleges from seeking tuition and fee increases of up to $350 a year beginning next fall. The schools are asking for increases in student fees of 5 to 7.9 percent.
Murphy, a junior political science major from Boise who dreams of going to law school, wishes there were no increases. "The economy is horrible right now," he said. "I've got to develop an entirely new budget to support everything. The (text) books are going up."
College administrators say their schools face a number of costly challenges, from repairing old buildings and covering rising fuel prices to hiring new faculty for growing student populations. Idaho's college education costs -- including room and board and transportation -- rose 24 percent to $14,578 a year between 2003 and 2007, according to the State Board of Education. That's twice the inflation rate and about the same rate of increase as Idaho health care costs, said Boise economist John Church.
In the same period, Idaho's median income rose by 8 percent to $57,773. Despite rising education costs, Idaho remains a bargain for tuition and fees compared to most surrounding states, according to the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education.
The average annual cost to attend an Idaho university ranks 13th among 15 Western states. Among state colleges, Lewis-Clark State College's tuition ranks seventh in 11 Western states.
Idaho colleges could find asking for more money easier than getting it. Tuitions and fees must be approved by the State Board of Education, which often has whittled down school's initial requests.
Blake Hall, a board member from Idaho Falls, is particularly tenacious on holding down fees, especially when the economy is shaky and people look to colleges for job retraining. "If you raise fees too much, access becomes an issue," he said. As college costs increase, students often resort to loans to make ends meet.
Idaho college students graduate with an average debt of about $20,000. Access to college, however, could improve in the Treasure Valley next year. The College of Western Idaho is expected to open in January and charge about half what Boise State University students pay in tuition this year. Idaho four-year schools may come to the State Board with one argument in their favor.
While the Legislature has proposed beefing up higher education funding by 8 percent to $281 million for next school year, it did little to give the schools money to offset inflationary increases for things like energy -- some of the same concerns that worry BSU student Murphy.
"I've got to heat the place," said Lloyd Mues, U of I vice president for finance and administration. BSU is asking for a tuition increase of $81 to cover new and expanded academic programs. The school is adding a master's degree in community and regional planning and wants $554,000 for staffing and other costs.
BSU also is looking for more graduate assistantships to help build the school's research work, a top goal for President Bob Kustra. BSU officials acknowledge that the dream comes with a price tag. But they say it is an investment in the community.
"We can't afford not to do it," said Sona Andrews, BSU provost and vice president for academic affairs. "First of all, we need to be producing this highly trained, highly skilled work force. We need it in order to attract businesses and industries."
BSU's growth is leading to new programs that need more resources than the school gets from the state, Andrews said. "If they don't come from the Legislature, they are going to come from tuition increases."
U of I faces a different set of challenges. The school has a number of aging buildings that need attention. Part of its fee request would go to fix safety issues at the Kibbie Dome football stadium, Mues said.
U of I also is trying to play catchup from last year, when the State Board cut 1 percentage point out of U of I's 2008 fee request of 5.9 percent, he added. Jon Gaffney, U of I student body president, supports the school's request, the highest of the state's four-year colleges. He doesn't think it will keep students out, in part because of increased financial aid.
About 700 low-income Idaho students have qualified for up to $3,000 each school year as part of the Opportunity Scholarship.
Meanwhile, BSU student Gabe Murphy crams every credit he can into each semester to shorten his time at BSU. One semester, his load was 19 credits.
"I can't afford to keep going here semester after semester," he said. "I have (college) loans."
Bill Roberts 377-6408