CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Members of the West Virginia State University Board of Governors approved an 8 percent tuition and fee hike on Tuesday to help balance next year's budget, despite concerns that the escalating costs will hurt cash-strapped students.
"None of us wants to raise tuition, but administration has essentially cut over $2 million, or 10 percent of the budget, during this fiscal year," said Larry Rowe, chairman of the Board of Governors. "With those cuts and with the 8 percent tuition increase next year, we can practically assure that we have another balanced budget that won't cut essential services for students."
Under the proposed increase, West Virginia residents would pay $5,442 a year beginning next fall -- an increase of $404 a year. Out-of-state students would pay $12,720 a year, an increase of $942 from this year.
The Board of Governors approved the tuition and fee increase Tuesday by an 8-2 vote. The increase must be approved by the state Higher Education Policy Commission.
The tuition increase will net the school more than $1 million in revenue next fiscal year, said Melvin Jones, vice president for business and finance, and free up funds for improvements to the school library and athletics program.
The Board of Governors initially thought they would have to lay off as much as 15 percent of WVSU's work force to trim $2 million from the 2012-13 budget, but Jones said the school avoided layoffs through program reductions, a strict hiring freeze and staff attrition.
WVSU's new sticker price makes it the third-cheapest public university in the state, after Fairmont State University, which charges $5,326 a year for in-state students, and Bluefield State College at $5,153 a year, according to the HEPC.
The board has grappled for months to plug a multimillion-dollar budget hole spurred by plummeting student enrollment, a split with the school's community and technical college, and what the HEPC called a campuswide lack of "financial discipline."
The board slashed about $2 million from the university's budget this year, instituted a campuswide hiring freeze, and forced the finance department to approve any purchases greater than $1,000. Rowe said West Virginia State expects to round out the fiscal year, which ends June 30, with a budget surplus of about $570,000.
Still, Kristopher Casdorph, the student representative on the board, said State students were once again being slapped with increased tuition to pay for the past financial mistakes of administrators.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Members of the West Virginia State University Board of Governors approved an 8 percent tuition and fee hike on Tuesday to help balance next year's budget, despite concerns that the escalating costs will hurt cash-strapped students.
"None of us wants to raise tuition, but administration has essentially cut over $2 million, or 10 percent of the budget, during this fiscal year," said Larry Rowe, chairman of the Board of Governors. "With those cuts and with the 8 percent tuition increase next year, we can practically assure that we have another balanced budget that won't cut essential services for students."
Under the proposed increase, West Virginia residents would pay $5,442 a year beginning next fall -- an increase of $404 a year. Out-of-state students would pay $12,720 a year, an increase of $942 from this year.
The Board of Governors approved the tuition and fee increase Tuesday by an 8-2 vote. The increase must be approved by the state Higher Education Policy Commission.
The tuition increase will net the school more than $1 million in revenue next fiscal year, said Melvin Jones, vice president for business and finance, and free up funds for improvements to the school library and athletics program.
The Board of Governors initially thought they would have to lay off as much as 15 percent of WVSU's work force to trim $2 million from the 2012-13 budget, but Jones said the school avoided layoffs through program reductions, a strict hiring freeze and staff attrition.
WVSU's new sticker price makes it the third-cheapest public university in the state, after Fairmont State University, which charges $5,326 a year for in-state students, and Bluefield State College at $5,153 a year, according to the HEPC.
The board has grappled for months to plug a multimillion-dollar budget hole spurred by plummeting student enrollment, a split with the school's community and technical college, and what the HEPC called a campuswide lack of "financial discipline."
The board slashed about $2 million from the university's budget this year, instituted a campuswide hiring freeze, and forced the finance department to approve any purchases greater than $1,000. Rowe said West Virginia State expects to round out the fiscal year, which ends June 30, with a budget surplus of about $570,000.
Still, Kristopher Casdorph, the student representative on the board, said State students were once again being slapped with increased tuition to pay for the past financial mistakes of administrators.
"Where are students going to find this money?" Casdorph asked. "We took one for the team last year with an 8 percent increase, and this year we're being asked to do it again. It seems like you're saying the only solution is to put it on the backs of the students."
Historically, WVSU students graduate with some of the highest loan debt in West Virginia, according to the HEPC. In 2010, the average WVSU graduate left school with a loan debt of $25,186 -- the second-highest debt rate of any public school in the state, after West Virginia University.
John Thralls, who sits on the Board of Governors, said that relying on tuition hikes was an unsustainable long-term strategy for State.
"I think we need to aggressively pursue external funding through fundraising and enrollment and service outreach," Thralls said. "We must look structurally at the university from top to bottom and assess productivity at all levels. We've got to live within the resources that are available to us because the route of the last two years with tuition increases is not sustainable."
Thralls still voted for the tuition increase, as did Rowe, Millie Booker, Larry Salyers, Ann Brothers Smith, Tom Susman, Gary L. Swingle and Vice Chairman L. Vincent Williams.
Casdorph and faculty representative Tom Guetzloff voted against it.
Board of Governors member William Lipscomb was absent.
Administrators are relying on the tuition hike, plus a one-time cash infusion of $750,000 from the state Legislature to balance next year's budget and pay for two presidential salaries, updates to the university library and support for the athletics program.
West Virginia State officials have allocated a proposed $448,000 for the 2012-13 school year to pay for a new presidential salary and four new university positions.
In August, longtime President Hazo Carter announced he would step down in July 2012 after receiving a vote of no confidence from the university's faculty senate. The school will continue to fund Carter's full $167,444-a-year salary until 2014 and pay the salary of a new university president to step in by June.
Reach Amy Julia Harris at amy.har...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-4814.
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