Regardless of the State Legislature’s decision about university appropriations, fall 2003 tuition will increase a total of 9.9 percent.

The Board of Trustees voted unanimously Thursday to raise the cost of attending CMU by $471 for undergraduate students, to a total of $5,218. Because it has been three years since the state increased appropriations, Finance and Administrative Services Vice President George Ross said any extra revenue from the increase in tuition would be put away for future use.

"If some money came back, we would build it into a contingency against the current economic conditions," he said.

In March, Gov. Jennifer Granholm proposed a 6.75-percent across-the-board cut for all universities. However, the House/Senate committee on higher education voted 4-2 to approve a budget of $1.8 billion, which includes only a 0.7 percent cut in CMU’s appropriation. The plan sets a policy of $4,112 per student funding, a new system of figuring appropriations.

The conference committee’s budget is now being negotiated between House and Senate leadership and Granholm, Caul said.

Total cost is figured by tuition and fees. While tuition increased 11.8 percent, mandatory fees did not increase at all, resulting in the 9.9 percent figure. After other state universities finalize their budget plans, Ross said he expects CMU to be the third lowest cost in the state, following Saginaw Valley State University at $4,737 and Northern Michigan University at $5,110. As of now, with six universities still undecided, the university with the fourth-lowest cost is Lake Superior State University with $5,454.

“Room and board and tuition (at CMU) is still in the bottom tier,” Ross said.

Not including CMU, other universities in the state which have announced their tuition increases averaged an increase of 10.9 percent. The highest increase was with LSSU at 14.6 percent. The lowest was NMU at 6.9 percent.

“This compares approximately the same as other universities that have raised tuition, and this would put CMU in the 14th or 15th rank,” University President Michael Rao said.

The increased costs for undergraduates should raise $7.5 million for the university.

"This represents part of our solution to bridge our $21.5 million budget gap," Ross said.

Board of Trustees Vice Chairman James Fabiano said attending CMU would still remain a good financial option, even after the increase in tuition.
"This is a significant bargain," he said.

E-mail the author: Heather BellLife Copy Editorand Adam TrumbleLife Editor