Tuition, financial aid expected to increase

BY TRAVIS FICK
Managing Editor

A tuition increase of 3.9 percent for 2010-11 has been approved by the Board of Trustees and takes into account the economic concerns of Saint Mary’s University’s students, according to Cindy Marek, vice president for financial affairs.

The 3.9 percent increase also applies to students’ room and board and increases the total cost by around $1,200. “Although any increase in tuition is an unwelcomed burden for any university student, at Saint Mary’s we are lucky to have one of the lowest tuitions for a private college in Minnesota,” said Mary Gleich, student senate president. “I hope that our administrators will always keep in mind our Lasallian tradition of providing a quality education for all, especially the poor.”

In past years, SMU has increased tuition about 4 to 5 percent each year because of annual increases in medical costs, tuition discounts and expenses associated with operating the university. “We have had years where our medical costs alone increase by 10 percent,” said Marek. “Those increases make it harder to adjust.”

Last year, the Board of Trustees approved a six percent tuition increase in November. But after the economic downturn, the university lowered the increase to 4 percent. Marek said that all possible scenarios are being considered when planning for the 2009-10 academic year.

“We know that we have families that have lost jobs or have illnesses,” said Marek. “But we are hoping that it won’t affect each student drastically.”

An increase in tuition will also bring an increase in financial aid for qualifying students, Marek said. The amount of financial aid or tuition discounts given to students has exceeded the amount that was budgeted during the previous year. Three years ago, the average tuition discount was 33.9 percent and has increased to 39.3 percent for the current year.

“It is dependent on the students who are coming here and what their need is,” said Marek. “We could have a year where our students come from more upper-income families and that might not happen. But more of our students come from middle-class families.” The recent economic downturn has made Marek’s job more difficult. “In the 30 years I have been in higher education, this has been my most difficult year-and-a-half working through this and seeing the difficulties families are going through,” said Marek. “That makes it hard for us because we want to limit our tuition increase as much as possible but have to budget so we are fiscally responsible to the university.”

SMU’s budget is tuition-dependent, which means it is built based on the expected revenues from students’ tuition. While other schools may subsidize any loss in revenues through gifts or their endowment, SMU does not have that luxury. “You’re still going to have these same costs even if you have 150 less students,” said Marek.

SMU has tried many things to generate additional revenue, such as summer camps, renting out buildings, and expanding the Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs.

“If you go down to Winona State and see the new buildings going up, I think wow,” said Marek. “But we feel in many ways that we do the education side - which is the important piece - better.”