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Printer-Friendly ModeTuition climbs 4.9 percent
June 26, 2006 —
The SVSU Board of Control approved a 4.9 percent increase in tuition for the 2006-2007 academic year at its regular formal session on Monday, June 12.
As overall expenditures increased 3.5 percent, undergraduate tuition and fees for Michigan residents increased $8.70 per credit hour to $184.75.
A student taking 30 credit hours over the academic year can expect to pay approximately $5,542.50 in tuition and fees costs.
State appropriations for Michigan's state universities have accounted for less and less of those colleges' operating budgets, and SVSU is no exception.
Even with a 2.9 percent increase in state funding, state appropriations now constitute roughly 35 percent of SVSU's nearly $78.8 million 2006-2007 operating budget, down from 37 percent in the 2005-2006 academic year.
Non-resident undergraduates can expect a 5.5 percent rate increase to $418 per credit hour. Graduate tuition rates for Michigan residents also experienced an increase, increasing 5.6 percent to $314.80 per credit hour. Tuition for professional program courses was increased 6.7 percent.
SVSU President Eric R. Gilbertson noted that the projected operating budget is necessarily inexact.
"This one contains even more guesswork," he explained, comparing this year's budgetary planning to last year's.
Gilbertson also commented on changes concerning student enrollment. While undergraduate enrollment remained strong, he mentioned that graduate enrollment has slowed approximately one percent.
He also hinted that enrollment in the College of Education was disappointing, saying, "It's no secret what's happening in public schools around us."
The Board also passed a number of other resolutions, including a decision to renew the University's relationship with TCF Bank. The SVSU "Access" card, which is issued to all undergraduates upon enrollment, will continue to double as both a student identification card and a TCF banking/debit card.
The Board also adopted a resolution that would conclude negotiations with Wolverine Electric, which supplies SVSU with electricity. Wolverine proposed a $6.5 million deal to deliver electricity for a set amount of time that would be specified in the contract. The deal should save the University over $300,000 in the long run.
After remarks from Dr. Robert S.P. Yien, the retiring Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Board adjourned to a private session. Yien touched on a number of issues the University currently faces and will come to face in the future.
The overarching theme of his speech was transition.
"Transitions are important times, whether in the lives of people or of organizations, for they offer the opportunity to reflect on the past and plan for the future," he said.
Yien added that the University "is at a transition point. Over the past decade or so, SVSU has made the transition from an up-and-coming institution to a mature university."
Additionally, Frank Dane and Diane Boehm, co-chairs of SVSU's committee on academic integrity, spoke on the policy they helped to develop.
"The policy on academic integrity pretty much mirrors the national conversations," Boehm said.
"One of the ingredients, if you will, is the honor code adopted by the Student Association," she added.
The predominant themes of the policy are student and faculty awareness of the problem and the introduction of a method to record offenses.