Thursday, May 29, 2014
Akron Beacon Journal
KENT
On a day when some students protested over rising college costs, Kent State University trustees voted Wednesday to increase tuition for the fall semester at its eight campuses, including those in Trumbull and Columbiana counties.
With the 2 percent increase — matching the state limit — tuition at KSU’s main campus will rank right in the middle of Ohio’s 13 public universities. Effective for the 2014-2015 academic year, full-time undergraduates will pay $5,006 each semester, an increase of $98. Graduate tuition will increase $104 to $5,326 per semester.
Earlier Wednesday, about a dozen students gathered on Risman Plaza to contest what they call a “student debt crisis” at KSU. They focused on two causes: the rise in tuition and the university cap on credit hours.
They would like to see KSU remove its 16 credit-hour cap. Students must pay $440 per credit hour above 16. Many other universities have higher limits — or none.
“The issue of student debt has been ignored, which has allowed it to grow like a weed, strangling our livelihoods and the education we want and deserve,” said Cassandra Cecil, a sophomore psychology major from Wadsworth. She is a member of the Kent chapter of the Ohio Student Association, which is leading the campaign to curb tuition increases.
“Education should be a right, not a privilege,” Cecil said. “Next year, we will come back stronger.”
Cecil said the tuition hike “is not going to stop us. We aren’t going to back down.”
The students did not attend the trustees’ meeting but did talk with some university officials.
The additional tuition revenue will raise about $11 million for the university. Trustees noted that more than half of that new money will be allocated to increases in student scholarships.
Wednesday’s meeting was the last for retiring President Lester Lefton and other key staff, and it was filled with goodbyes.
The board passed a resolution of appreciation for Lefton’s eight years in Kent and awarded him the title “president emeritus,” effective July 1.
In a video presentation, Lefton’s family, executive staff and acquaintances spoke of his accomplishments: a leadership legacy of increasing student retention and graduation; setting records for enrollment and fundraising; his key role in the transformation of downtown Kent connecting the campus to the city; and for bringing back homecoming parades at the university.
The tribute noted the cowboy hat he wore in the parades.
Lefton was described as a visionary with energy, leadership with passion and as a lover of Broadway musicals who was fond of saying, “Resistance is futile.”
The board also said goodbye to its chair, Jane Murphy Timken, and named her trustee emeritus of KSU. She is ending a nine-year term on the board and has served on every committee and held all of the board’s leadership positions.