• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

UND: School Tries to Keep Fall Tuition Increase 9.5 Percent or Lower: Hike Projection is Due March 15

Posted on: Monday, 27 February 2006, 15:00 CST

By David Dodds, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.

Feb. 27--UND's budget boss told students Sunday that over the next two weeks school leaders will be deciding if they can hold tuition and fee hikes for next fall within the projection is set out at the beginning of the current biennium.

Budget director Alice Brekke told members of the Students Senate that the school had anticipated raising tuition for each year of the biennium between 7 and 9.5 percent, but certain pressures, including unanticipated impacts from Hurricane Katrina and higher heating and transportation expenses, may force an increase beyond that range.

She said the projected shortfall for utility expenses alone for the rest of this fiscal year and the next is $1.4 million. That number is smaller than most schools with respect to percentage of the overall budget, because of an efficiency measure that UND has been able to employ, she said.

Brekke said that the school budget panel will be meeting regularly until March 15, the day that UND's tuition and fee hike projection is due to the North Dakota University System.

The State Board of Higher Education has requested the system schools keep tuition increases for next fall under 10 percent. Last year, she said, UND increased its limit 9.5 percent, the upper extreme of its projected range.

Fees, too

Brekke said that whenever UND has raised its tuition in the past, it also has increased students, with a 5-percent cap on each hike. She said the UND president can determine to exceed the cap, however.

Fee hikes usually are targeted to alleviate pressure caused by inflation.

"At this point, were are looking at a 5 percent increase (for next fall), and hopefully we can stay within that," Brekke said.

She said that about 30 percent of UND's total budget comes from student tuition and fees, and though UND's prices have been on the rise in recent years, the school still compares favorably with its regional and national peers.

"That doesn't mean it's a blank check to increase tuition and fees," Brekke said.

Task force formed

Brekke said that the school also uses tuition and fee increases to maintain adequate staffing levels, fund programs and pay for technology infrastructure.

A top priority of UND is increasing faculty salaries, and the school still "has a ways to go" in that area, Brekke said. She said that whenever new money is received, the school tries to target much of its for salaries.

Bob Boyd, UND vice president of student and outreach services, said he has formed a task force to study how tuition and fee hikes are impacting student financial aid at the school.

Dodds reports on higher education. Reach him at (701) 780-1110 or (800) 477-6572, ext. 110; or ddodds@gfherald.com

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, N.D.)

More News in this Category