Apryl Mock
Managing editor
SE students are facing a tuition increase of 5 percent, or $8.50 per student credit hour in the 2013-14 fiscal year, according to Ross Walkup, vice president of business affairs.
To put this into perspective, a student taking 12 hours would have paid approximately $2,023 in tuition last year but would now pay approximately $2,125 for the same 12 hours.
According to Walkup, the main reason that tuition has increased is because of the decrease in state appropriations from 52.5 percent of the university’s total budget in the fiscal year of 2006-07 to its present rate of 40.5 percent.
State appropriations are used to cover basic costs such as faculty and staff salary increases, health care costs, deferred maintenance, compliance and utility increases, according to Walkup. Due to the decrease in state appropriations, SE must cover these costs with the tuition increase.
This year basic costs of SE increased by $660,832. State appropriations increased by only $163,557, leaving a difference of $497,275 to be covered by the tuition increase.
According to Walkup, the increase in tuition and mandatory fees ranged from 2.8 percent to 9.1 percent among the regional universities in Oklahoma with the average being 5.7 percent or $9.52 per student credit hour. This puts SE below the average on tuition increases for other colleges our size in Oklahoma.
The average amount that tuition increased statewide, which includes research universities, regional universities and community colleges, was $6.68 per student credit hour or 4.7 percent. This puts SE above average in tuition increases in Oklahoma among universities of all sizes.
Mandatory fees for SE students remain the same as last year. Mandatory fees include a $2 technology fee per student credit hour, a student activity fee of $6 per student credit hour and student union fee of $13.10 per student credit hour.
Not all mandatory fees are charged for hybrid and online courses. Only the technology fee is billed, while the student activity fee and student union fee are not, according to Walkup.
The additional fee for online and hybrid courses decreased from $75 to $70 per student credit hour, said Walkup. This fee supports the technology and operational costs required to offer these courses.
The fee decreased because last year more students took online classes. The amount of money required for online and hybrid classes is divided by the number of students taking the classes. The final fee is the amount needed to cover the technology costs.
Walkup said it is important for students to be aware of tuition increases because “being informed about tuition costs can go a long way toward building a solid financial foundation.”
According to Walkup, the last three years show that 62 percent of SE students graduate with debt averaging $14,667. Walkup said, “A college education is a big investment, and due to the present economic conditions it is predicted that students will shoulder even more of this cost.”