President Hall Proposes Tuition Increase

President Kermit L. Hall presented the proposed Tier II Tuition increase to the Utah State University student body Dec. 11.

Students were given the opportunity to ask questions and voice their concerns.

Shane Porter, a graduate student majoring in animal science, said, "I think the tuition increases are necessary, but I also think there's a lot of inefficiencies [in the system] that need to be addressed."

Second-tier tuition increases are universitywide, while first-tier increases are statewide.

USU Tier II Tuition is proposed to increase 5 percent in the next fiscal year, in addition to the 4.5-percent increase in Tier I Tuition. All revenue from the second-tier increase will stay at the university to meet critical academic and student-services needs, according to the Tier II Tuition increases pamphlet.

The university will use the revenue to improve instruction, as well as advising and academic support.

USU will hire 25.5 full-time, permanent faculty in business, English, art, languages and philosophy, math and statistics, education and science and engineering. The university will also hire six full-time advisers.

Hall said, "We are establishing a central advising system. In the past, we have had the weakest student-to-adviser ratio in the nation. The key to retaining students from their first and second year in college is in advising."

The tuition increase will allow USU to enhance its libraries, implement a new information-technology system, boost supplemental instruction and increase the number of sections in bottleneck courses, according to the Tier II Tuition pamphlet.

Mauri Tolman, a senior majoring in elementary education, said, "I think when there is an increase in tuition, students should be able to see the immediate effects of it that will benefit them. I think it's hard when the university has to increase tuition, because we are poor college students, and no one likes to pay it. But if it means it will help update facilities and have a better faculty, then I think it's a necessary step."

The main goals for USU administrators are to retain students and build a better academic institution.

Hall said, "We are making a difference with the money we are producing. The students' money is very important to us. What we have to do is raise our chances in being better as an academic enterprise."

Jason Walker, a sophomore majoring in engineering, said, "There are other things I think they need to improve on. They keep talking about retention, retention, retention, but if they keep raising tuition, it's making it harder for [the students] to pay for it."

By Marie MacKay; mmackay@cc.usu.edu
Photo courtesy Utah State University Public Relations and Marketing