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Printer-Friendly ModeBoard approves tuition increase
Cost of undergraduate credit hour raises by 7.5 percent to $176.05
July 19, 2005 —
Tuition will be increasing 7.5 percent for the fall semester, raising the cost of a credit hour to $176.05.
The increase was part of the $74.8 million 2005-2006 fiscal year budget approved Friday by the Saginaw Valley State University Board of Control.
With the approved budget, tuition and mandatory fees for full-time state residents taking 30 credits of undergraduate classes for the academic year will be $5821.50.
This year's budget increases by more than $4 million compared to last year.'s Included in the budget is a 17 percent increase in scholarships and financial aid, and room to hire 13 more faculty positions.
According to SVSU President Eric Gilbertson, the university's tuition rate will remain the lowest of the state universities, and the percentage increase this year is consistent with the low side of SVSU's sister universities.
"We wish we didn't have to increase tuition at all," Gilbertson said, before adding that the rise of some costs simply cannot be avoided.
SVSU was able to put together a budget despite uncertainty from the State of Michigan, which has yet to approve a fiscal year budget.
"We can wait no longer to take our action," Gilbertson said at the meeting. "There is some uncertainty, but we simply have to act."
Typically, the state's higher education budget is set several months before the actual budget is approved, so universities can set their own budgets in time for the fall semester. The state has not done so in recent years, though SVSU has managed to adjust accordingly.
This year, the University simply used a flat rate of state appropriations, or the same amount SVSU received last year, (about $25.9 million). There are proposals on both the state House and Senate floors that would give the University more money; however, both are still uncertainties.
Tuition for an in-state graduate student, based on a 24-semester academic year, will be $7,153.20. A non-resident undergraduate student will pay $11,890.50 for 30 credit hours.
The Board also approved the SVSU Occupational Therapy program's transition from granting baccalaureate degrees to entry-level master's degrees. Since those wanting to be certified as an occupational therapist must have a master's degree in the field, it made sense to those involved in the program to simply make it an entry-level master's program. Bachelor's degrees in Occupational Therapy will no longer be offered after 2006.
In other action, the Board confirmed board members at previously authorized charter schools, approved the reauthorization of Saginaw Preparatory Academy, through June 30, 2008, authorized borrowing funds to meet temporary cash flow deficits, and approved extending SVSU's cooperative purchasing agreement for natural gas with the State of Michigan through August 31, 2007. The sale of a parcel of land located immediately south of the water retention pond near Wickes Stadium was also addressed at the meeting.