YSU panel discusses scenarios that would affect 2009 tuition

By Harold Gwin

It’s all in the discussion stage right now. No decisions have been made.

YOUNGSTOWN — Tuition at Youngstown State University could rise 6 percent next fall, or, it might not increase at all.

It really depends on what the state will do next year in terms of subsidy payments to the Ohio institutions of higher learning.

YSU and other state colleges and universities have had a tuition freeze in place for two years in return for increased state funding that amounted to an additional 10 percent at YSU this year. Tuition is holding at $6,720 a year for in-state undergraduate students.

The state has created the University System of Ohio, linking all the state schools together, and the chancellor of higher education has asked the schools to come up with tuition estimates as the governor prepares his biennial budget this fall.

It’s all just discussion at this point, part of the schools’ required responses to the state’s 10-year strategic plan for higher education.

The Finance and Facilities Committee of the YSU trustee board met Thursday to begin mapping out a response and found itself looking at a number of tuition possibilities.

Dr. Thomas Maraffa, special assistant to the president, said the chancellor has asked the schools to prepare their estimates based on two scenarios — state subsidies remaining at the current level ($49,808,108 for YSU) and with a 2 percent subsidy increase ($50,804,270 for YSU).

YSU has other parameters it must consider as well, he told the committee, explaining that the Inter-University Council of Ohio (comprised of the presidents of the state’s 13 public universities and two free-standing medical schools) has come up with its own set of standards it wants its member schools to abide by.

That includes setting a revenue growth projection at 3.6 percent for next year and a tuition increase between 3.6 percent and 6 percent.

Meeting all those guidelines, YSU would be looking at a tuition increase of 4.8 percent next fall if the state does come through with a 2 percent subsidy increase, said Neal McNally, director of budget planning and resource analysis.

If state funding remains flat, a 5.9 percent tuition increase would be required to satisfy all the guidelines.

Anything less in terms of state subsidy would require a 6 percent increase, he added.

Although the chancellor has told schools to look at flat funding or a 2 percent subsidy increase, McNally said a more likely scenario is a 1 percent drop in state assistance next year, based on earlier reports from the state and Ohio’s current financial problems.

That would push the tuition increase to 6 percent.

Of course, if the state opts to boost its subsidy like it did last year, all those numbers go out the window and a tuition increase could be avoided altogether, McNally said.

And there is no requirement that the board adhere to any of the parameters being considered and decide that an increase isn’t needed or a lesser number is appropriate, he added.

One committee member expressed concern that a tuition rise could result in an enrollment drop. McNally said statistics show that college tuitions have risen an average of 6 percent a year in recent years, but enrollment continues to rise.

Maraffa pointed out that, with YSU’s varied student-aid packages, students, on average, pay only 46 percent of the “sticker price” of their education.

Dr. Cynthia Anderson, vice president for student affairs, said between 87 and 93 percent of YSU’s 13,279 students receive some form of aid.