Shelbie Harris
Staff Writer
The State Board of Education approved Idaho State University’s proposed 3.5 percent tuition and fee increase for the 2014-2015 academic year on Wednesday, April 16.
For the last six years ISU has continued its attempt to lower the percentage at which tuition and fees are increased per year. The coming year’s price hike is the second lowest increase for Idaho universities.
Both resident and non-resident tuitions, as well as certain higher education program fees, will be affected by the increase.
The cost for resident students will increase by $222 compared to the 2013-2014 academic year, settling at a total cost of $6,566.
Non-resident students will also see an increase of 3.5 percent resulting in a total cost of $19,326 for the academic year.
“Whenever you talk tuition, you’ve got to remember you’re talking about a price, a price for education,” said ISU Vice President of Finance and Administration James Fletcher.
“In this case, at a university, the tuition only pays a part of the total price,” Fletcher continued.
Idaho State University ranks in the top 15 nationally among lowest-cost public universities with high starting salaries for graduates.
Financial difficulties still exist for students of ISU and across the country.
“The fact of the matter is our student body is financially challenged,” said Fletcher.
“Despite financial challenges related to increasing operational costs and decreases in state funding, we continue to look for opportunities to invest in our students,” he continued.
The rising cost of tuition may appear to be unfortunate for students currently attending or planning to attend universities such as ISU, however, it’s not necessarily a bad thing for students.
Rising costs of tuition for ISU will benifit the Career Path Internship program (CPI program), which offers paid opportunities for students to gain professional experience at locations both on and off campus.
During the 2013-2014 academic year, the program employed nearly 700 students on ISU’s four campuses.
“We’re currently funding [the CPI program] internally for $1.4 million,” said Fletcher.
“There is no other program like that in the entire state of Idaho, but we want to increase the funding that goes on there because it’s been very successful and students love it,” he continued.
When it comes to tuition increases, in order to fully satisfy all parties, schools must take this double-edged sword and balance it carefully so as to not impede on the overall success of the institution.
A university that chooses not to increase tuition to combat increases in expenditures, such as rising health insurance or lack of funding provided by state and local governments, will need to find some way to allocate the resources available.
This may result in budget cuts that affect certain colleges or departments, cuts of faculty and staff members, or even the complete termination of special events and/or educational programs.
“The flip side of the coin is the only way you can bring tuition increases down is to bring costs down. That’s the only way you can do it,” said Fletcher. “The university does not operate on a profit margin. The only way to get rid of costs is to get rid of people,” he continued.
The goal for ISU is to continue to grow, to continue to provide updates and renovations to multiple buildings on campus and to continue to lead in both opportunity and innovation.
