UA to raise tuition, again, but the increase still less than others in SEC

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
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<p>[University</a> of Alabama trustees approve 9 percent tuition increase for Tuscaloosa | TuscaloosaNews.com](<a href=“http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20110617/NEWS/110619735/1007?Title=University-trustees-approve-9-percent-tuition-increase]University”>http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20110617/NEWS/110619735/1007?Title=University-trustees-approve-9-percent-tuition-increase)</p>

<p>Inflation! HS kids who want to go to a college like UA better prepare to snag a scholarship and avoid this increasingly expensive part of American life.</p>

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<p>Not trying to start a fight here, but I am curious, how many parents whose children receive generous scholarships from UA, donate to UA? Please don’t take this the wrong way. But I wonder if UA even tries to woo some of you guys to donate?</p>

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<p>We do. Certainly not a huge amount, but we said yes when the alumni association called. And we’ve let D know that we certainly expect her to contribute when she graduates.</p>

<p>ETA: University of Tennessee at Knoxville requested approval of a 12% tuition increase today.</p>

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<p>I would imagine that is a pretty high number. I mean think about it, who wouldn’t want to contribute to the college that has given their pride and joy a substantial scholarship? A no brainer to me.</p>

<p>Glad the presidential covers tuition increases.</p>

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<p>We’ve donated! :)</p>

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<p>I guess we’ll be “donating” an extra $1,400 this year. OUCH!!</p>

<p>UA isn’t bad compared to other colleges of it’s caliber and size. But college tuition in general is WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY out of hand. This bubble is gonna burst sometime.</p>

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<p>I was just curious, but to all of you who do donate, thanks! You will all go to heaven with your shoes on! lol. </p>

<p>NJ. I totally agree. The Federal govt needs to slow down on Fin Aid for those who really should not be going to college. We really need to bring back vocational ed.</p>

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<p>It would appear that President Witt has made a conscious (but unpublicized for political reasons) decision to increase the penetration of OOS students as a means of increasing academic standards and bridging the budget gap. Brilliant move if you ask me. I have heard estimates that this year’s freshmen class may be 50% (or more) OOS (anyone have the actual stats?). Their recruiting efforts of OOS students have been stepped up dramatically. The population base in Alabama simply cannot support continually rising academic standards without bringing in more OOS. As well, OOS students bring in more revenue, which is needed in an era where the state continues to cut funding. Again, I applaud his strategy as he has been able to continually improve academic quality and infrastructure, while other state systems are going in the tank and worsening every year. The guy is brilliant and the improvements and dramatic rise in the rankings remarkable. I do wonder if he is going to take some political heat, particularly if this year’s freshmen class exceeds 50% OOS. I can’t think of another state flagship that is 50% OOS. Hopefully,the politicians don’t screw up a good thing like Texas, which has automatic admission if you are top 10% in your Texas high school or NC which caps OOS at 18%. Witt’s strategy appears to be a progressive philosophical move from educating the masses of Alabama toward educating the academic elite of Alabama. Again, I like this change and certainly other schools can fill the role of educating the mases.</p>

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<p>I agree, however, UA’s current standards are not so high that it would ever deserve fair criticism. I think UA has been more than generous in its admissions standards for far too long. Most smart kids can get a minimum ACT score of 22/23 if they try hard enough. I really think that raising the bar ups everyone’s game and causes people to work harder to meet a higher standard. If a student can’t enter UA as a freshman, they can prove themselves in Junior College and then transfer. UA cannot afford not to increase its academic standards. </p>

<p>Even schools that are ranked below UA tend to have higher avg. ACT and SAT scores, due most likely, to this lack of expectations in our state. I think we need to expect more from the students in this state. UA and AU could take steps to help the masses up their game. But THAT is not their chief responsibility. As these two schools advance in prestige, it can only help the entire state.</p>

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<p>I am all in favor or raising admission standards for it increases the value of the diploma. If UA wants to climb the next rung in the rankings to compete with UF and UGA, it will have to raise standards - that is indisputable. While I have no question that UA offers the same, if not better, quality as UF and UGA, things like SAT/ACT scores factor into the rankings. This poses an interesting dilemma for Witt and the Alabama legislature. Alabama simply does not have the population base of Georgia and Florida. To raise the standards, they will need to admit less residents of Alabama and more OOS. This is not necessarily a reflection on the Alabama school system, but purely a numbers game. If Alabama had the population of Georgia, Florida, and Texas, their rankings would go up based upon sheer numbers and supply/demand rules (more students competing for fixed slots). However, when Johnnie and Susie can’t get into Alabama because Billy from OOS got in, they tell their congressperson. Billy’s parents don’t vote in Alabama, but Johnnie and Susie’s parents do. I personally like the current direction, but it will be interesting what the voters think. I think the issue is does Alabama continue to be a school for the masses or does it truly join the next tier of academic elite? Raising standards is the answer, but it will be interesting to see how that plays with the electorate. This is another reason why we NEED to keep Witt in place as long as possible. He has tremendous clout with legislature and it seems like he gets most of what he wants through. A less powerful president may get steamrolled in the political process. I am willing to build another Denny Chimes (Witt Chimes) or whatever it takes to keep Witt in place until we reach the same prestige level as UGA and UF. I understand that prestige is not everything and grossly overrated, but it helps put the job application at the top of the pile and increases salary. My take is that Alabama and everyone wins in that process, but tell that to the voters who didn’t get in to UA as OOS ranks grow.</p>

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<p>I’ll also add the importance that Nick Saban plays in raising academic standards. There is ample empirical evidence to support the notion that winning sports programs (particularly football) bring in more applications and a better applicant pool. There was a college study on the improvement of George Mason when their basketball team made it to the Final Four and it had an amazing impact. The impact of the 2009 National Championship is huge and I don’t care how much we are paying Saban - probably not enough. The combination of Witt and Saban is truly the perfect storm (in a good way) and we are enjoying an unprecedented time at UA. We need to keep them both for as long as possible.</p>

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<p>*I have heard estimates that this year’s freshmen class may be 50% (or more) OOS (anyone have the actual stats?). Their recruiting efforts of OOS students have been stepped up dramatically. The population base in Alabama simply cannot support continually rising academic standards without bringing in more OOS. As well, OOS students bring in more revenue, which is needed in an era where the state continues to cut funding. *</p>

<p>Very true.</p>

<p>Many OOS families have done the math…and even with a modest scholarship that reduces OOS tuition somewhat, their cost is equal or lower to what they would pay at their own publics.</p>

<p>I was SHOCKED to learn that Illinois State Univ (which is ranked behind UIUC and UIChicago), charges its instate students $12k per year for tuition (and could be rising). Oh my. So, why wouldn’t a kid who can get a 2/3 or better scholarship come to Bama? With a 2/3 scholarship, they pay $7k for tuition…and get to attend a higher ranked flagship university…with all the bells and whistles that a flagship offers!!!</p>

<p>*I can’t think of another state flagship that is 50% OOS. *</p>

<p>For a large geographical state, this is very unusual. Some of the tiny states do have high OOS populations, but it just means a quick jaunt over a state’s line.</p>

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<p>*However, when Johnnie and Susie can’t get into Alabama because Billy from OOS got in, they tell their congressperson. *</p>

<p>I think that is why Dr. Witt has wisely chosen to grow the school’s population. This allows the school to still admit some of the modest stats instate kids from rural areas with sub-par K-12. </p>

<p>If you look at the numbers of how many undergrads Bama had “pre-Dr. Witt”…it shows that the school can still pretty much accept the same instate kids that it did before, while accepting those many OOS kids (many with high stats) .</p>

<p>I don’t see Bama having to resort to what Texas and other states have done and largely limit admissions to those who are top 10% of their classes. </p>

<p>The state has a population of less than 5 million people.…and it has 2 “main” universities…Bama and Auburn…and 2 very good universities…UAB and UAH (both of those schools are also doing things to boost their rankings,etc) When you add the enrollments or Bama and Auburn…those numbers are too high for them to exclude many instate kids. And, when you add the enrollments of UAB and UAH which are attracting students with strong stats, I really just don’t think it’s going to be a problem. I’m not even including the 20 or so other universities in the state. For being a state with a small population, it sure has a LOT of universities!!!</p>

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<p>The official strategic plan for UA (the link is not currently working) states that due to Alabama’s relatively stagnate number of graduating high school students, UA has to look at other states to find students. </p>

<p>MABama, the “poster child” for universities that have a majority OOS student population is the University of Delaware. UA started using some of their recruitment methods shortly before UA saw its population of students from Texas increase due to TX’s Top 10% rule. I’ve made it clear that I would like to see UA become a majority OOS school, which it is already if you count the students who aren’t originally from Alabama as OOS. The truth is that the Alabama K-12 education system is not good outside of a few public and many private schools and while UA works hard to combat this, it hasn’t chosen to hide many of its lower stats students from the information it gives to ranking agencies like some universities have done.</p>

<p>I wholeheartedly agree that Dr. Witt and Nick Saban are worth every penny we pay them, but will point out that there are some things that Dr. Witt would most likely want to change, but doesn’t have the power or clout to do so.</p>

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<p>I agree that Dr. Witt has wisely chosen to grow the school’s population, which has allowed him to keep the same base of instate while attracting a larger pool of strong OOS students. As well, it has helped achieve some economies of scale. However, that strategy can not be employed forever as eventually the school population is going to max out. It is amazing how many large, quality universities Alabama has for its population base (and it still gets an undeserved bad rap for education)</p>

<p>At the risk of alienating my friends to the east, I see a potential strategy where UA raises its academic standards and becomes the truly elite state higher educational institution and the other schools take on more of the role of educating the masses. I could see the Alabama legislature supporting such a movement as most states really have only one elite public college as it is more cost effective and Alabama does not have the population base to support two. Frankly, Witt has the school trending in that direction. The improvements in the UA engineering programs (once the exclusive domain of AU) and business programs, while Auburn cuts their elite scholarship programs are further evidence of this trend. Heck, even the new barn tells me the prior roles held by Alabama and Auburn are changing.</p>

<p>Yes, I have a dog in this fight and biased opinion, but mark me down as someone that advocates the State of Alabama strategically making UA the elite institution, which actually makes higher education stronger. As a model, UA becomes like Michigan and AU becomes Michigan State. I see that happening now, whether by design or not, but again, I am biased in my views.</p>

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<p>SEA_tide, we think alike on the future direction of UA (more OOS), which actually benefits Alabama students (for some of the same reasons that “separate but equal” really isn’t equal). I also agree that Dr. Witt would like to do more, but like it or not, public schools are political institutions. I also believe that UA will soon be running into a brick wall in the rankings, preventing it from being held in the same esteem as UF and UGA, unless the legislature takes the next step. I have my own vision, but getting re-elected is their vision, which may be a conflict.</p>

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<p>OOS enrollment is definitely on the rise in the tri-state area, Connecticut will see about 40 students enrolling in the fall and Long Island will have 30, about 110 total from the metro area. Pretty fantastic really though, I still think that recruiters could “sell” the university better.</p>

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<p>I don’t see Auburn stepping aside to let UA become THE elite institution in the state. Why? Because Auburn is only an hour and a half from Atlanta, which is a huge metropolitan area. Although UA has made some inroads there, I think AU still attracts more of its students than UA does, given the shorter distance between it and Atlanta. UA, although closer to Birmingham’s Metro area, is actually at a distinct disadvantage for attracting OOS students in that it is very close to Mississippi, which is sparsely populated, and even poorer than Alabama. So it really is amazing that UA has had the success it has, aside from the fact that it has such a lovely campus, and traditions. </p>

<p>What things do you think Witt would do if he could? Besides get more state money?</p>

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<p>I wouldn’t expect Auburn to go gracefully into the night, but rather kicking and screaming at the concept. As to Atlanta, is AU really competing for the top performers or the kids who couldn’t get Hope scholarships (or admission) at UGA? I think UA has done a far better job of attracting top students from far reaching places like the Northeast, Midwest, and even California, Northwest and Hawaii, while the attraction at AU to Atlanta students is more based upon proximity and convenience. I look at UA as having far greater geographic diversity with a stronger ability to pull students from far reaching places, while OOS diversity at AU is largely coming from Atlanta. To me, this is further evidence of UA’s trend toward becoming THE state flagship.</p>

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<p>The truth is that the Alabama K-12 education system is not good outside of a few public and many private schools and while UA works hard to combat this, it hasn’t chosen to hide many of its lower stats students from the information it gives to ranking agencies like some universities have done.</p>

<p>While I would agree that K-12 education is weak in the rural and poorer areas (which is true in most/all states), I wouldn’t say that about the publics in the larger cities…mainly because the residents insist on better standards, and the parents are educated as well. </p>

<p>I agree that Bama doesn’t hide some its students stats like some schools that are “test optional” so that they don’t have to include the low stats kids in their reporting figures…and they end up with a more favorable mid 50 range.</p>

<p>When you look at the PSAT cutoff for Alabama, it compares well to many other states…and does better than a number of states. That wouldn’t happen if most of the K-12 education was poor. </p>

<p>I’ve bolded the states that have PSAT scores that are EQUAL or BELOW Alabama’s cutoff. There are 23 states that have PSAT cutoffs scores equal or below Alabama’s. Another 7 states’ cutoffs are just 1-2 points higher. The state doesn’t deserve the rep it gets. </p>

<p>Qualifying Scores for the Class of 2011 National Merit Semifinalists:
Alabama 210
Alaska 214
Arizona 209
Arkansas 203
California 219
Colorado 212
Connecticut 219
Delaware 215
District of Columbia 223
Florida 210
Georgia 215
Hawaii 215
Idaho 208
Illinois 214
Indiana 212
Iowa 209
Kansas 211
Kentucky 208
Louisiana 210
Maine 213
Maryland 220
Massachusetts 223
Michigan 209
Minnesota 213
Mississippi 205
Missouri 210
Montana 208
Nebraska 210
Nevada 208
New Hampshire 214
New Jersey 221
New Mexico 206
New York 217
North Carolina 214
North Dakota 202
Ohio 212
Oklahoma 206
Oregon 215
Pennsylvania 216
Rhode Island 211
South Carolina 208
South Dakota 205
Tennessee 212
Texas 215
Utah 203
Vermont 212
Virginia 218
Washington 218
West Virginia 202
Wisconsin 209**
Wyoming 202**</p>

<p>I don’t see Auburn stepping aside to let UA become THE elite institution in the state. Why? Because Auburn is only an hour and a half from Atlanta, which is a huge metropolitan area.</p>

<p>True…but Georgians with good stats get HOPE (tuition free) at Georgia publics …so Auburn really can’t compete with that. AU has already had to severely drop its merit scholarships to the point that an ACT 33 only gets a 50% break from OOS rates (bringing tuition down to $10k)…why choose THAT when the student can either choose Bama’s free tuition…or free in their own state???</p>

<p>If Bama can maintain its scholarship offerings for future incoming frosh, it can and will become the school to go to in this state , unless choosing a major that Bama doesn’t have. Bama is the state’s flagship.</p>

<p>Bama’s name is in the air.</p>