Big Ten Institutions Tuition Increase

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<p>MSU Ranks 3rd in Big Ten tuition increase</p>

<p>By Kayla Habermehl
The State News
Published: August 2, 2009</p>

<p>It’s a competition no one wants to win: Which Big Ten university has the highest tuition? And which one had the biggest tuition increase for the 2009-10 year? MSU has the sixth highest tuition in the Big Ten and the third largest tuition increase for 2009-10. A resident MSU freshman will pay about $10,800 in tuition for 2009-10, an increase of about 5.2 percent, according to information from MSU.</p>

<p>At the high end of the spectrum is Northwestern University, costing undergraduates about $38,000 in tuition. Northwestern is the only private institution in the Big Ten.</p>

<p>The lowest tuition increase of the Big Ten is the University of Iowa, where an in-state freshman will pay about $6,800 for 2009-10.</p>

<p>A welcomed freeze</p>

<p>Despite the differences in the universities, all but one raised tuition for the 2009-10 year.</p>

<p>The exception was Ohio State University, which held its tuition at the 2006-07 levels. Tuition for an in-state freshman at Ohio State will be about $8,400.</p>

<p>The 2009-10 year is the third in a row Ohio State has been able to freeze tuition and the first time tuition has remained the same for more than two years since 1955, Ohio State spokesman Jim Lynch said.</p>

<p>“We have a governor here in Ohio and a Legislature that truly believes the future growth of Ohio will be through public colleges and universities, so they have provided an increasing amount of state funding to help universities keep their tuition flat,” Lynch said. “They know that universities and colleges can be an economic engine for the growth of Ohio. Parents and students seem to be very pleased.”</p>

<p>The home team</p>

<p>Unlike Ohio State, MSU raised its tuition for in-state undergraduates 5.2 percent for 2009-10 and 4.9 percent for 2010-11, according to MSU’s budget development overview approved by the Board of Trustees in June.</p>

<p>The increase was the third highest in the Big Ten with the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin-Madison being higher.</p>

<p>U-M raised tuition 5.6 percent for 2009-10 and Wisconsin raised tuition 5.5 percent.</p>

<p>MSU’s hike reflected a 3.1 percent decrease in state appropriations — or about $9.1 million — bringing MSU’s expected appropriations to about $283.9 million, according to the guidelines.</p>

<p>MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said tuition rates are related to state appropriations and the number of in-state students. Out-of-state students pay more tuition, so they generate more revenue.</p>

<p>“Our tuition rate is viewed as competitive in the Big Ten,” Simon said. “But the Big Ten overall is very competitive in terms of academic institutions.”</p>

<p>Simon said one way MSU is battling increases in tuition is through raising financial aid by 30 percent; 17 percent in 2009-10 and 13 percent in 2010-11.</p>

<p>“I think the pattern of trying to assure financial aid grows more than tuition will continue,” Simon said. “Hopefully, the state will start providing support to us, which will help us moderate tuition.”</p>

<p>Seeing green in the land of maize and blue</p>

<p>U-M had the highest tuition increase in the Big Ten for the 2009-10 year at 5.6 percent. This brings tuition for an in-state freshman in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts to about $11,600 for 2009-10, an increase of about $622.</p>

<p>U-M spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham said the university countered the increase with the largest financial aid increase in U-M history — 11.7 percent.</p>

<p>“When we’re thinking about our budget — this year we were looking at the state of the economy — there were two priorities: one is a commitment to providing students with one of the best educational experiences and (the other is) access to the experience — and that means financial aid,” Cunningham said. “We added $10 million to budget for financial aid. I think that is about $118 million total for financial aid — that’s a record amount for us.”</p>

<p>U-M has the fourth highest tuition in the Big Ten. Cunningham said U-M has been working on keeping costs and tuition down.</p>

<p>“Everyone in Michigan is working on keeping cost down; we have been for years now,” she said. “We’re getting pretty good at it. We always increase financial aid as much as the tuition increases.”</p>

<p>A waiting game</p>

<p>Penn State University, which has the highest tuition of the public universities in the Big Ten, increased tuition 4.5 percent for undergraduates on its main campus, University Park.</p>

<p>This brings tuition to about $13,600 for an in-state undergraduate at Penn State.</p>

<p>Penn State spokeswoman Annemarie Mountz said the university is waiting to hear about its state appropriations.</p>

<p>“The state of Pennsylvania does not yet have a budget in place — the Legislature and governor are still not in agreement over the budget, so the fiscal year started July 1, and our state has no budget,” Mountz said. “So we had to try to anticipate what we might be looking at in terms of appropriation.”</p>

<p>Penn State’s Board of Trustees met July 17 to institute a tuition increase option that was lower than previous estimates. It ranges from an increase of 3.7-4.5 percent depending on residency and campus location, according to a statement.</p>

<p>Still, the amount of tuition could change once Pennsylvania approves its budget, Mountz said.</p>

<p>“Once the state has a budget and we know our appropriations, we’re hoping appropriation is in line with our expectations and that we can keep tuition levels set where they are now,” she said. “It would be possible if the appropriation fell well below what we are hoping for, we may need to institute a mid-year tuition increase.”</p>

<p>Published on Sunday, August 2, 2009</p>

<p>Tuition</p>

<p>1 Northwestern University</p>

<p>Tuition: $38,461
Percent increase: 3.6 percent
Increase per semester: about $660</p>

<p>2 Penn State University</p>

<p>Tuition: $13,604
Percent increase: 4.5 percent (for the University Park campus)
Increase per semester: $295</p>

<p>3 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign</p>

<p>Tuition: $12,660-$16,978 (based on major and other program fees)
Percent increase: 2.6 percent
Increase per semester: $121</p>

<p>4 University of Michigan</p>

<p>Tuition: $11,659
Percent increase: 5.6 percent
Increase per semester: $622</p>

<p>5 University of Minnesota</p>

<p>Tuition: $11,476
Percent increase: 3.1 percent
Increase per semester: about $310</p>

<p>6 Michigan State University</p>

<p>Tuition: $10,804
Percent increase: 5.2 percent
increase per semester: $540</p>

<p>7 Indiana University</p>

<p>Tuition: $8,613
Percent increase: 4.6 percent
Increase per semester: $382 (Bloomington campus)</p>

<p>8 Ohio State University
Tuition: $8,406
Percent increase: 0 percent
Increase per semester: $0</p>

<p>9 Purdue University</p>

<p>Tuition: $8,138 (does not count a new $500 fee to fund the strategic plan as it will be rebated for freshman using stimulus money)
Percent increase: 5 percent
Increase per semester: $388</p>

<p>10 University of Wisconsin-Madison</p>

<p>Tuition: $8,020
Percent increase: 5.5 percent
increase per semester: about $220</p>

<p>11 The University of Iowa</p>

<p>Tuition: $6,824
Percent increase: 4.2 percent
Increase per semester: about $140</p>

<p>Tuition is based on in-state undergraduate tuition for a regular academic year and includes fees.</p>

<p>Source: Big Ten Universities</p>

<p>Link: The</a> State News: Michigan State University's Independent Voice</p>

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<p>oops!.. I might have double posted on the Financial Aid forum. sorry… :p</p>

<p>yeah, I came across this article written by The State News, thought it would be interested to share with y’all. :)</p>

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<p>Wisconsin is still leaving too much $$$ on the table. It should move to the median or around $11,000/yr with some going to more aid.</p>

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<p>I agree barrons. Wisconsin is a complete bargain IS as compared to a any other school in the Big Ten, with the exception of Iowa. I can’t believe it’s over 3,400 dollars/year cheaper than Minnesota and yet Minnesotans can pay the same amount as Wisconsinites because of reciprocity. I’m thinking that Wisconsin should charge at least as much to Minnesota students as they charge their own residents in Minnesota to attend UM.</p>

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<p>I believe Minn kids going to UW pay the higher UMinn instate rate–not the Wisconsin rate. Wis kids going to Uminn pay the lower Wisconsin instate rate. With most U’s going to multiple tuitions by major, etc it must get very confusing.
The new UW Chancellor is pushing to get UW Madison up to the median with the new tuition surcharges above ther basic increase. Again–complicated.</p>

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<p>That’s not how tuition reciprocity works, rjk. Minnesota residents pay the (higher) University of Minnesota in-state tuition rate if they attend the University of Wisconsin. Wisconsin residents pay the (lower) University of Wisconsin in-state tuition rate if they attend the University of Minnesota. This led to some resentment on the part of Minnesota residents attending their own in-state public flagship when they learned that the kid from Wisconsin sitting next to them in the classroom was paying a lower tuition than they were paying at their own State U. Not to mention that the University of Minnesota felt like it was a losing proposition to super-subsidize Wisconsin residents by giving them an even cheaper rate than Minnesota residents. The reciprocity agreement almost fell apart over this about a year ago, until the Wisconsin legislature caved and agreed to make payments directly to the University of Minnesota to cover the difference between the Minnesota and Wisconsin in-state tuition rates for all Wisconsin residents attending the University of Minnesota.</p>

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<p>That would suck if reciprocity disapeared as then I couldn’t go to Madison. </p>

<p>Oh well… I guess it would make the choice between the two much easier.</p>

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<p>Right BC. I did not even want to get into the whole state payments thing. It used to be Minn sent money to Wisconsin because more Minn kids went to Wis than the other way. Now this offsets that and Wis has to send a check. Those Germans/Swedes/Norwegians are tight with a buck.</p>

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<p>^ Yeah, barrons. Actually, the problem wasn’t entirely with the Wisconsin legislature. They were paying the state of Minnesota which was pocketing the money and not paying the University of Minnesota the tuition differential, so the U was taking a bath financially. So the new deal is, the state of Wisconsin pays the U of Minnesota directly; eliminate the middleman.</p>

<p>There’s a way in which tuition reciprocity hurts both flagships. It means less tuition revenue flowing through the system, so it shows up in the US News rankings as lower expenditures-per-student. Wisconsin has as high a percentage of OOS students as Michigan but doesn’t get nearly as much tuition out of them because about half of Wisconsin’s OOS are Minnesota residents paying in-state rates. They’d be better off charging the Minnesotans full OOS tuition and making up the difference with guaranteed scholarships for Minnesota residents equal to the difference between in-state and OOS tuition, so the next cost would be the same. Then the university wouldn’t actually HAVE more money, of course, but it would look as if it did, and US News would report it that way—and their overall FA profile would look far more generous, too. Same logic for the University of Minnesota. </p>

<p>This, of course, is one reason some privates can look so much stronger financially than publics, and so much more generous with their FA, too: they set a high nominal tuition rate knowing only a small fraction of students will be able to pay it, then rebate a large fraction of the revenue in the form of FA. You still pay through the nose, but most people are grateful for the school’s “generosity.” Quite a trick.</p>

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<p>Uminn kids do not count against the 25% UW OOS limit so it really does not hurt them as if they were counted as OOS UW could not take as many from elsewhere at full pay. Basically they take seats from instate Wisconsin kids and for UW it’s a wash.</p>