Board Resists Students Seeking Higher Fee Hikes

Idaho university student leaders were in the unusual position of asking the state Board of Education to authorize fee increases exceeding 4.7 percent.

But the board meeting Friday in Idaho Falls voted to stick with its own policy, which limits annual fee hikes to the change in the Consumer Price Index plus 2 percent.

The index grew by 2.7 percent last year.

University of Idaho students will pay $810 per semester beginning next fall, $36 over this year. LewisClark State College fees will increase $33 to $739 per semester.

Lewis-Clark and Idaho had each proposed a fee rise of nearly 9 percent. Student body presidents at three state schools said they could live with the additional costs to preserve programs and educational quality.

University of Idaho student body president Sean Wilson stood alone in urging the board to hold the line at 4.7 percent.

“I fear the beginning of a trend that replaces general education dollars with student fees,” Wilson said. The Legislature appropriated an additional 6 percent for higher education this year.

A portion of student fees, however, will make up the difference between the appropriation and what it will take to maintain current operations.

State board member Roy Mosman said abandoning the board’s fee guideline would invite the Legislature to short higher education and rely on student fees in the future.

“This question is bigger than presidents of student bodies,” Mosman said. “We need to speak on behalf of students in the future. State law says an Idaho education is supposed to be free.”

Board member Thomas Dillon urged his colleagues to discard the fee limit. School buildings are deteriorating and faculty are underpaid, he said.