Tuition increases at YSU should be a last resort

Even as Dr. David Sweet, president of Youngstown State University, persuasively argues that he had no alternative but to seek a 9.5 percent tuition increase, we can't help but wonder how he and the rest of the university's employees can look students in the eye knowing that they will be receiving comparatively large pay raises over the next three years.
Perhaps individuals in the private sector are more attuned to the realities of today's economy and the fact that concessions and layoffs are the norm. It just strikes us as unseemly that YSU's administrators, faculty, classified employees, professional staff and police get to pad their wallets at the expense of the students.
But the pay raises are here to stay, which means the university will have to find a way of meeting this major operating cost for the next three years.
Spending cuts
Members of the board of trustees were obviously swayed by Sweet's contention that the budget had been cut to such an extent that any further decrease in spending would affect YSU's academic quality. They also appear to have bought into his argument that even with the increased tuition, the cost of attending YSU will be the lowest among universities in Northeast Ohio and could be lowest among all Ohio's public universities if those institutions implement expected tuition increases.
Though that is a legitimate way of looking at things, we would remind the president and the trustees that Youngstown State's customer base is concentrated in a five-county region that has lagged behind the rest of the state in terms of economic growth and the availability of high-paying jobs. It is dangerous, therefore, to play the comparison game. YSU could price itself out of its mission district.
For that reason, we urge Sweet, his economic team and the trustees to ask the question, "What if?" What if the assumption about the level of funding from the Ohio Board of Regents -- the state -- does not materialize and YSU receives less than it needs? What if actual full-time enrollment falls short of the projections? What if the president fails in his effort to secure $1 million in scholarships to blunt the effects of the tuition increase, thereby forcing some students to sit out for a semester or two?
We aren't surprised that Sweet is reluctant to indulge in such pessimistic thinking, but given the ongoing economic crisis statewide and nationally, it does not hurt to contemplate worst-case scenarios. It is fair to ask what measures are being explored to address a further decline in revenue. We would hope that another tuition increase would be a very last resort and would be considered only after all other avenues to reduce expenditures and increase revenue have been explored.
Over the past five years, students have seen tuition increases of about 40 percent. That is not an insignificant amount.