Tag: Tuition

Marshall University to Raise Tuition

Marshall University’s Board of Governors was presented with a $116 million balanced budget Wednesday that included a tuition increase.

A tuition increase isn’t uncommon in the state’s higher education system today. Many of the states four year institutions are looking to tuition increases, at least in part, to make up for state budget cuts. Marshall University’s Board of Governors approved an increase of between 3 to 4% for students Wednesday. The increase is less than the 5% threshold that requires the approval from the Higher Education Policy Commission.

Beginning in the fall, tuition and fees for full-time resident undergraduate students will increase $144 per semester. Undergraduate students who live in the metro counties of Kentucky and Ohio will pay $226 more, while non-resident undergraduate students will pay $288 more. Tuition for most resident graduate students will go up $101 per semester, with metro graduate students paying $177 more and non-resident graduate students paying $250 more.

Marshall Interim President Gary White said they had to come up with new ideas.

“We started a zero-based budget process and that implies that you look at everything you do and you quantify not only the important functions, but what those important functions cost, you don’t look at the revenue side, you simply look at the expense side and once those are identified, then you have a target,” White said.

It’s the third year that not just Marshall, but all higher education institutions in the state have faced budget cuts from the state Legislature. How did Marshall deal with that cut and still find a way to get the budget balanced? And find money for employee raises? By using new ideas like White said. Among those was changing the student tuition structure, no longer are there individual lab and course fees. Students pay college fees along with their tuition and the extra money needed for labs comes from that group.

But White said they came up with other ideas like the implementation of a faculty group to examine the budget. The Marshall 20/20 group was created in the fall of 2013 by former President Stephen J. Kopp and has played a large role in identifying areas that can be cut. The group of employees and faculty is compromised from different University departments that are always studying the budget. 

Report: W.Va. One of Three States Continuing to Cut Higher Education

A report released this month by the national Center on Budget and Policy Priorities looked at states across the country that cut their higher education…

A report released this month by the national Center on Budget and Policy Priorities looked at states across the country that cut their higher education budgets in the wake of the 2008 economic downturn.

Three of 50 states did not make cuts to their systems during that time, North Dakota, Wyoming and Alaska.

The report says now that the economy is picking up, states are restoring funding to colleges and universities, but levels are still well below where they were in 2008. 

Thirteen states have continued to cut programs, and West Virginia was among, but holds a special distinction of one of three states that cut higher ed in 2014 and 2015 consecutively. That group includes Kentucky and Oklahoma.

Sean O’Leary, fiscal policy analyst with the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, points to tax cuts approved by lawmakers in recent years as one reason why West Virginia has looked to higher education decreases to help balance the state budget.

O’Leary pointed specifically to the reduction of the state’s corporate net income tax, phasing out of the business franchise tax and removal of the 6 percent food tax.

“Altogether, those cost the state about $360-400 million in lost revenue. That revenue had to be made up somewhere and higher ed is one of the easier places to cut,” he said.

The cuts have resulted in about $2,000 less funding for colleges and universities per student, which has led to a $1,600 rise in tuition on average at state institutions.

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O’Leary said that rise in cost deters enrollment, especially for low income students who are vital to the state’s workforce.

“[Low income students] are less likely to go to college, if they do manage to go to college, they’re more likely to graduate with higher levels of debt,” O’Leary said, “and the state finds it harder to economically prosper when it can’t attract the kinds of businesses that are looking for a highly education workforce.”

The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission is set to vote on a tuition increase for the West Virginia University system next Friday.

The WVU Board of Governors approved a nearly 10 percent hike for in state students and 5 percent hike for out of state students at their meeting this month.

Any increase of more than 5 percent must be approved by the HEPC.

Fairmont State to Increase Tuition

Students at Fairmont State University will pay higher tuition and fees for the 2015-2016 academic year.In-state undergraduate students will pay an…

Students at Fairmont State University will pay higher tuition and fees for the 2015-2016 academic year.

In-state undergraduate students will pay an additional $157 per semester. Tuition for non-resident undergraduate students will increase by $332 per semester.

Graduate tuition will increase by $170 per semester for in-state students and $351 per semester for non-resident studen

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The Times West Virginian reports that Fairmont State’s Board of Governors unanimously approved the tuition hikes last week, along with some fee increases.

Finance committee chair Mark Pallotta says the increases inflation is the biggest factor behind the increases.

WVU-Parkersburg Board Approves 8 Percent Tuition Hike

West Virginia University-Parkersburg’s Board of Governors has approved an 8 percent tuition increase.
 
In-state students in bachelor degree programs would pay $300 more a year. Out-of-state students would pay an additional $786 a year.

In-state tuition for associate degree and certificate programs would increase by $216 a year. Out-of-state tuition would rise by $768.
 
The Parkersburg News and Sentinel reports that the board approved the increase on Wednesday.
 

WVU-Parkersburg President Marie Foster Gnage says the increase is needed because of state budget cuts and a drop in enrollment.
 
Gnage says related fees would be mostly unchanged, or reduced in some instances.
 
The Community and Technical College Council also must approve the increase.
 

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