Budget hearings look at higher ed, tuition hikes, student growth
Lawmakers are wondering if the state's colleges and universities will continue to hike student tuitions, reports AP reporter Jessie Bonner, who covered this morning's budget hearings for Boise State University and Idaho State University. Under questioning from JFAC, BSU President Bob Kustra argued that even with the potential increase in funding for higher education under the governor's budget, the schools are still digging themselves out of a financial hole, Bonner reports; click below for her full article.
"We've lost $20 million dollars because of this difficult economy over the last four years," Kustra said. "It's not just about getting the governor's current recommendation through, it's also about trying to recoup money that we've lost that's forced us into larger class sizes and has forced us into offering fewer classes for students."
Kustra said BSU turned away 976 students this past fall, even as its student population continued to grow. The official "snapshot" of enrollment at BSU is 19,664 students, he said, but the total number of "distinct students" served in the past year, including fall, spring and summer terms, was 29,454. The school has been rearranging class schedules and days and making other moves to fit more students into the same buildings over the course of the year, he said.
Lawmakers: Will colleges still seek tuition hikes?
By JESSIE L. BONNER, Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — With more money for higher education included in the governor's budget recommendation, lawmakers are wondering if Idaho's public universities will continue to seek tuition increases, as they have in the past several years to help balance their budgets.
The state's full-time undergraduate students are paying 5 percent to 8.4 percent more in tuition and fees this year. Lawmakers on the Idaho Legislature's budget writing committee started hearing Monday from the university presidents, who were asked whether additional increases are in store.
"It's of grave concern to us, we don't want kids to come out of there with debt," said Republican Rep. Maxine Bell, who co-chairs the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.
While Idaho State University President Arthur Vailas countered it may be too soon to tell, Boise State President Bob Kustra argued that even with the potential increase in funding for higher education under the governor's budget, the schools are still digging themselves out of a financial hole.
"We've lost $20 million dollars because of this difficult economy over the last four years," Kustra said. "It's not just about getting the governor's current recommendation through, it's also about trying to recoup money that we've lost that's forced us into larger class sizes and has forced us into offering fewer classes for students."
Kustra also underlined that Boise State requested the lowest tuition increase at 5 percent for the current school year.
At Idaho State University in Pocatello, where students are paying 7 percent more than they did last year as state support for higher education fell to a record low, Vailas stressed that the tuition hikes have played a relatively small role in the overall growth of his institution. The university has managed to boost its reserves to more than $12 million while also paying down $8.1 million in long-term debt over the past two fiscal years, though these advances were not made "on the backs of students," Vailas said.
He cited a massive overhaul of programs on the Pocatello campus among the cost-saving measures the university has taken to make gains. Student fees are generating about $53.3 million for the university, or about 16 percent of its total operating budget, in the current fiscal year.
"Tuition pays a very small amount of the bills that we have," Vailas said.
The University of Idaho, which requested the largest tuition increase at 8.4 percent for the current school year, was expected to report to the committee later in the week.
President Duane Nellis will likely face the same questions from lawmakers in light of the governor's budget recommendation, which includes a $16.9 million boost in state general funding for Idaho's four-year universities. The schools have relied more heavily on the money from students in recent years amid state funding declines.
The state Board of Education approved the most recent tuition increases last April, with state support for higher education poised to drop to its lowest level in more than a decade. The increases ranged from $266 to $454 per year for full-time undergraduate students.
But the board, which has become increasingly concerned about the cost of higher education in the state, could be more reluctant to agree to further hikes when taking up the requests again in April. A state report handed out to lawmakers last week found major roadblocks to high school students continuing their education in Idaho, including ability to pay and affordability.
The board may be even more cautious should the governor's recommended funding increase for higher education win approval in the 2012 session, Kustra said.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
