Despite funding cuts, yearly tuition increases are the easy way out

Shortly after taking office in January 2009, Governor Jay Nixon announced an agreement with public universities and colleges in the state of Missouri to preserve their funding despite what would likely be several years of state budget cuts. The agreement promised to maintain the previous year’s level of funding for higher education if, in return, university officials promised there would be no tuition increase. The 2009-2010 school year was the only time in the last decade there has been no tuition increase for Missouri public universities. It provided temporary relief from funding cuts that have increased compared to inflation over the last two decades.

Although the tuition freeze saved students from increases in 2009-2010, it was short lived. For 2010-2011 the University of Missouri System, comprised of campuses in St. Louis, Columbia, Kansas City, and Rolla, increased tuition for out-of-state undergraduate students and professional students. With more cuts in higher education scheduled for the 2012 fiscal budget, university officials have indicated an increase just below 10% is almost inevitable for all students.

As school districts across the country work to balance their budgets with cuts across the board, it was interesting to find there were few, if any, comments on any cuts the universities themselves were intent on making. When universities speak about tuition they lead you to believe it is all inclusive, when it really is not. A University of Missouri student taking a 15-hour class schedule would pay about $3,700 in tuition. This doesn’t include ‘required student fees’ which could add an additional $1,000 dollars to your bill. These can include fees for information technology, student activities, health center, and recreation center along with any additional fees the specific area of instruction wants to add. These fees are also scheduled to increase. These costs are before you even get to campus and don’t include marked-up books you buy and living expenses.

In difficult budget times, higher education is usually the first to get their funding cut. This is because they have more ability to generate revenues than other state-funded programs. In addition to students that pay to attend, universities generate a great deal of income through athletic programs, bookstores, selling food and other merchandise, and collecting donations from alumni. They’ve got the revenue part down, but in tough budget situations, you have to also find ways to reduce expenses. It’s easy to find new fees to impose and increase tuition every year, which had been done every year at public universities in Missouri prior to Nixon’s 2009 agreement. College campuses and people involved in academia have a wealth of knowledge and should be fully capable of producing solutions to overcome cuts in funding other than calculating what each year’s tuition increase should be over the Consumer Price Index.

Kansas City business executive Warren Erdman, a member on the University of Missouri Board of Curators, was recently reported to have said that a rise in tuition would lead potential students to believe the school is more prestigious and therefore would see an increase in enrollment. MU Chancellor reinforced this thought by claiming more than 200 more students would attend with an increased tuition. Despite having no evidence to support it, he doesn’t factor in the possible decrease in enrollment due to the same tuition increase. These blue-blooded comments are beyond unreasonable to accept for the thousands of Missouri high school students who will be enrolling in their freshman year of college this Fall, likely having to add more debt to student loans that will already hold back young adults financially for years after they graduate. If higher education really is about preparing students for careers and life beyond campus, then ensuring students can actually afford that education would help make that more of a reality.