 The school's board of trustees approved the increase Wednesday,
citing the state's financial troubles as the main factor behind the
decision.The increase translates into about $359 more to attend a
semester at the school's Champaign-Urbana campus, $315 more per
semester at the Chicago campus and $281 more per semester at the
Springfield campus. The bump also will result in about a $22 million
swelling in the university's bank account.
(For an earlier Illinois Statehouse News article about tuition
increases,
click here.)
Higher tuition for new students comes on top of room and board
increases approved earlier this year.
University of Illinois President Michael Hogan called the
increase "pretty modest." He painted a dire picture of what would
happen without the extra money.
"It'd be very, very hard to staff our classes, keep class sizes
the way they are," Hogan said. "The most expensive thing about
college is the fifth, sixth and seventh years. If you're not putting
your classes together in the right sequence because you haven't got
the faculty to do it, or you're overloading the classroom, and
students have to wait another year to take a class ... that's very
expensive."
Hogan said that while enrollment has increased, the state's
funding has fallen off. Next fall will be the first time in history
that income from tuition will make up a larger revenue stream than
money from the state.
In addition to state funding remaining flat this year under Gov.
Pat Quinn's budget, the state owes the school more than $447 million
in previous funding. Walter Knorr, the university's chief financial
officer, said the state is seven months behind in its payments to
the school.
The state also owes another $43 million for student financial
aid. About half the students in the University of Illinois system
receive some form of financial aid, either from the state or federal
government. Knorr said in a worst-case scenario in which the state
couldn't pay the $43 million, the university would assume that cost.
Tuition is much more reliable. The U of I says, essentially, for
every dollar of tuition that comes in, the university gets about 80
cents.
Board member Tim Koritz, whose children are enrolled in the
university, said the increase is a necessity, but the school might
want to look at other avenues, like shrinking some academic
programs, to make up the lack of funding from the state.
"We have to keep in mind that every time we raise tuition, we may
be pricing certain potential students out of the ability to attend
our universities," Koritz said.
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Hogan said he agreed and that the university was doing what the
state won't -- setting aside more and more funds for financial aid.
Not all of the tuition increase could go to just maintaining
services. At least some of the extra cash should be used to increase
pay for employees, said Knorr, the financial officer. This would be
the first time in three years for any kind of salary bump, he said.
Furloughs also are not being discussed for next year. Faculty and
staff did have furloughs this academic year.
"I think we really need to -- in combination with the tuition,
dealing with the state situation and also our cost-cutting efforts
-- we need … a meaningful compensation package as part of this 2012
budget," Knorr said.
Representatives of the university appeared before a state Senate
Appropriations Committee earlier this year to talk about their
upcoming budget. They are expected to be back in Springfield next
month for a similar hearing in the state House of Representatives.
Knorr said a lot could change in the coming months.
"The bottom line is we have two months to go in the legislative
process. How this is going to roll out, both for the financial aid
as well as the appropriations, as well as benefits as well as
pensions, it's all out there," he said.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By ANDREW THOMASON]
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