Students learn to expect to pay more

Public colleges in the Inland Northwest are participating in a rite of spring – besides graduation.

Call it the raising of the tuition. It’s as automatic as the seasons.

Washington schools have approved, or are expected to approve, increases that are as large as possible under legislative authority – 7 percent at Washington State University, 6 percent at Eastern Washington University and 5 percent at the community colleges.

At the University of Idaho, student fees are going up by 5.8 percent, after state officials rejected a UI request to raise them by 9.5 percent.

For many students, the hikes slip past – if not unnoticed, then at least with a sense of futility.

“I’m taking out more than I ever wanted in student loans,” said Emily Tyner, a 24-year-old mother of two and junior at EWU. “I think it’s just something I’ve accepted. I don’t have a lot of options at this point.”

Tyner said she doesn’t always pay strict attention to the changes in tuition. She’s committed to finishing her degree in children’s studies and getting a job as a preschool teacher, and thinks it’s important and valuable even if the cost steadily outpaces the overall rate of inflation.

College officials say tuition increases are necessary as state funding continually falls behind the cost of providing a college education. In the past 20 years, the percentage of instruction costs that comes from tuition has risen dramatically – from 33 percent to 52 percent at Washington’s research universities, according to the Higher Education Coordinating Board.

EWU President Rodolfo Arevalo said that declining support from state and federal governments has put pressure on institutions to raise tuition, but that they may be forced eventually to consider limiting tuition hikes and making tough decisions about priorities on campus.

The rising cost of tuition in particular affects students with less money and who come from families without a tradition of higher education – a key part of the EWU student body.

“We have to provide a certain level of access to students,” he said.

The Washington Legislature approves the maximum amount schools can raise their tuition, but then each institution arrives at its own tuition. Nothing forces them to approve the maximum amount, but exceptions are rare.

Five years ago, EWU decided not to hike its tuition – and found its budget cut by lawmakers during the next session, said EWU spokesman David Rey.

“That’s negative reinforcement,” he said. “You hold the line on tuition, and the state punishes you.”

Tuition isn’t the only cost that’s rising for college students. WSU’s room and board costs are going up by more than 8 percent, for example. In many cases, grad students are seeing even bigger increases in tuition. And students also pay additional fees for everything from intramurals to the construction of new recreation centers and student union buildings.

Though individual students’ costs can vary widely, the “cost estimator” on the WSU Web site shows that a typical resident undergraduate will spend nearly $1,000 more overall in the 2006-07 school year than the year before.

Community college tuition is going up less – by an overall average of 5 percent at the Community Colleges of Spokane, depending on the student’s specific circumstances. But that increase covers just tuition, and not other categories of fees charged at CCS schools. Overall, the cost of enrolling for a year there will rise from $2,438 to $2,579, according to CCS.

The system has also lowered its nonresident tuition rate by about 25 percent, with an eye toward attracting nearby Idaho residents.

At North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene, a year’s tuition and fees are going up 5.5 percent – from $1,888 to $1,992 for a full academic year.

Tuition so routinely outpaces inflation that it’s built into long-term college cost planning Websites like FinAid, which helps parents calculate how much to plan for their children’s education.

“College costs increase at about twice the inflation rate,” the site says.