Stats

As Michigan’s bud­get con­tin­ues to be reduced in var­i­ous areas, tuition will be increas­ing for the 2010–2011 aca­d­e­mic year at Ferris.

The Ferris Board of Trustees held a meet­ing July 14 to approve the deci­sion for the increase. The added costs of com­pen­sa­tion for Ferris employ­ees, unfunded man­dates from the state or fed­eral gov­ern­ments, util­i­ties and finan­cial aid are some of the prime fac­tors for the increase.

President Eisler said the uni­ver­sity increases tuition to cover a por­tion of these annual costs as state fund­ing decreases.

“What we do not do is raise tuition to cover reduc­tions in state fund­ing,” Eisler said. “When the state cuts our bud­get, we reduce our bud­get and do not ask stu­dents to cover these costs.”

However, with enroll­ment down for the fall 2010 semes­ter, the bud­get may have to be reduced “even fur­ther beyond the reduc­tions received from the state,” said Eisler in his Aug. 10 mem­o­ran­dum to fac­ulty and staff.

“Anything that dis­cour­ages stu­dents from enrolling or attend­ing in the fall will have sig­nif­i­cant bud­get reper­cus­sions,” said Eisler.

According to a July 14 press release from University News Services, under­grad­u­ate tuition will increase by 4.75 per­cent. This is an increase from $316 per credit hour to $331 per credit hour. The rates will also increase to $4,965 per semes­ter and to $9,930 annu­ally, based on 15 cred­its per semester.

Tuition rates for grad­u­ate stu­dents will also rise from $425 per credit hour to $450 per credit hour. Students who are tak­ing cred­its from the university’s first pro­fes­sional pro­grams will see an increase to $545 per credit hour for Optometry and $534 per credit hour for Pharmacy. Residence hall and din­ing room rates have also increased from $8,340 to $8,580 for a stan­dard occu­pancy room.

However, the increases will also expend more by increas­ing finan­cial aid for stu­dents by 10 per­cent per year. Ferris board mem­bers approved a one-time $500,000 incen­tive to assist fam­i­lies impacted by cur­rent eco­nomic conditions.

In addi­tion, admin­is­tra­tors have also decided to offer the new Ferris Achievement Scholarship; an exten­sion of the cur­rent Woodbridge N. Ferris Scholarship. The schol­ar­ship ranges from $1,000-$4,000 based on a student’s criteria.

Jerry Scoby, Vice President of Finance and Administration, said hous­ing is down about 21 stu­dents, which is also a fac­tor in increased rates. Other con­tribut­ing fac­tors include the econ­omy, pric­ing of room and board and a decreased demand in on-campus housing.

“Ferris is not a place that tacks on fee after fee,” said Eisler. He said Ferris will place its fees within the bud­get they pro­posed to for the upcom­ing aca­d­e­mic year.

As the tuition increase leads to increases in other areas, stu­dents under­stand why tuition rates are rising.

“It’s not sur­pris­ing,” said Brian Stohl, a junior in auto­mo­tive engi­neer­ing technology.

Stohl is an out-of-state stu­dent and has a higher tuition rate than in-state stu­dents. Stohl added that tuition rises every year due to the weak econ­omy, but he is not wor­ried about being able to pay for school. Joshua Scott, a sopho­more in pre-pharmacy, agrees with Stohl.

“I under­stand why they’re doing it, they need a cer­tain amount of money to run the school and they have to get it from some­where,” said Scott

Scott also agrees that times are tough eco­nom­i­cally for every­one, includ­ing col­lege students.

“That’s going to make it harder to avoid costly long-term stu­dent loans,”
said Scott. n