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YSU trustees OK 3.5% tuition hike
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Full-time undergraduate students at Youngstown State University will pay $126 more per semester this fall after trustees approved a 3.5 percent tuition increase.
The vote came at a trustees meeting Friday, increasing from $3,600 to $3,726 the amount paid per semester by Ohio residents.
University officials cited the reduction in state funding as the reason the increase is needed. YSU expects a $9.5 million deficit for fiscal year 2012. The tuition increase will generate about $3.2 million.
For full-time undergraduate students living in the 10-county region considered the Western Pennsylvania Advantage area, tuition will go up $131 per semester, from $3,700 to $3,831.
Full-time students living in the 15-county regional service area in Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia will see a $193 per-semester increase, and full-time, out-of-state students outside of that region will pay $268 more per semester.
Graduate students also will have to dig deeper into their pockets to pay tuition.
Full-time, in-state graduates will pay $167 more per semester, from $4,788 to $4,956. Full-time, out-of-state tuition for graduate students will increase $172 per semester, from $4,888 to $5,060.
Trustees also approved student fees for this fall. Room and board increases from $7,600 to $7,900 per academic year. A new $64 graduation fee was established, and the cost of a parking permit goes up from $78 to $100 per semester.
YSU students saw a 3.5 percent tuition increase in fall 2010 and fall 2009 too. That followed two years, fall 2007 and fall 2008, when there were no increases.
The board also named Dr. Sudershan K. Garg as board chairman and Dr. John R. Jakubek as vice chairman for the year.
Dr. Garg, of Canfield, is a hematologist/oncologist at St. Joseph Health Center in Warren and St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown and Boardman.
Dr. Jakubek, also of Canfield, is an anesthesiologist and serves on the staff of Bel-Park Anesthesia Associates Inc. and St. Elizabeth Boardman Health Center. He also is medical director of the Surgery Center of Canfield.
Scott R. Schulick, who has served as chairman for three years, didn’t seek the chairman seat for a fourth term. He remains a university trustee.
Schulick thanked his fellow trustees, saying he is “grateful for their confidence and leadership.”
He said he’s especially proud of the board’s nationwide search for a president. That searched ended with President Cynthia Anderson’s appointed to the president’s post.