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State budget, MU finances take shape

Christopher Washington, Senior Staff Writer

Yearly increases in tuition may soon wane for Miami University students, with Ohio Governor Ted Strickland's plan to stop increases in tuition and provide more money for universities to create a lighter bill for students.

Strickland's plan, "Learning for Life: High-Quality Education for High-Quality Jobs," was proposed to ensure quality employment for residents of Ohio. According to the plan, jobs will go where the workforce is best educated.

The plan addresses the need to stabilize and prevent tuition increases at Ohio's public and private universities, according to Amanda Wurst, deputy communications director for Strickland's office.

According to a report released from the Ohio Board of Regents Jan. 18, tuition at Ohio's public universities is nearly 50 percent higher than the national average. In Ohio, the average yearly tuition for a four-year public university is $8,553, while the national average is $5,836.

Tuition includes total price students are charged for academic classes, but exclude additional expenses that arise from fees, room and board and meal plans.

Since 2005, Ohio universities have been limited to a maximum 6 percent increase in tuition each year. Miami University has increased tuition the full 6 percent since the cap was established.

Instead of reducing the maximum tuition increase by a percentage, Strickland's plan would invest funds in Ohio colleges and universities to reduce their need to raise tuition, according to Wurst. Because Strickland's plan is still in the budgeting process, a specific dollar amount has not yet been determined. However, the plan operates under the premise that investment in Ohio's universities will stabilize the amount students are charged, while ensuring universities can sustain themselves financially.

Wurst said this is an effort to make college education more available to Ohioans.

"(Strickland) wants to establish tuition guarantees to stabilize state support," Wurst said. "By establishing guarantees, schools are guaranteed state support."

Tuition guarantees are when a university agrees to freeze its tuition rate in exchange for state support.

Wurst said that in the upcoming months, Strickland will collaborate with universities to determine how the state funding will be used.

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Just last week, Strickland met with university presidents, including Miami President David Hodge, to discuss the future state budget with respect to higher education.

"I think the most important thing for students to know is that Governor Strickland is fully committed to working with legislators and university leaders to make education for affordable and accessible for Ohioans," Wurst said.

Across the state

Miami University is not the only institution dealing with tightening state support for higher education.

Overall, determining university tuition is dependent on several factors, including enrollment.

According to University of Toledo (UT) Media Relations Manager Jon Strunk, UT budgets funds based on income from the state and student enrollment. This means a lack of student interest would force UT to increase tuition to compensate for finances lost.

But breaking the trend of ever-increasing tuition at Ohio schools, UT managed to sustain its tuition price at $3,408 for fall semester 2007, with a zero percent increase.

Strunk said UT has experienced a surplus of students.

"We receive state instruction money based on enrollment figures," Strunk said. "Those have gone up recently for Toledo. When you get down to it, the (university) president made a commitment that we were not going to increase tuition."

Strunk also said UT must consider the zero percent increase for the 2007-08 academic year when budgeting for future years. Financial state contributions and student enrollment will determine if tuition will increase.

In contrast to UT, the University of Cincinnati (UC) increased tuition by 5.6 percent for the 2006-07 academic year.

Greg Hand, spokesperson for UC, also expressed frustration at current state funding.

"Ohio provided less money per student," Hand said. "So to make up the difference, universities in Ohio have to charge more."

Private universities also suffer from a lack of state support resulting in an expensive tuition.

According to Jamie Abel, assistant director of communications for the Ohio Board of Regents, tuition at private institutions varies between campuses. However, private universities are provided with more institutional aid from endowments and donations.

Steve Howell; director of financial aid at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio; said the university does not receive state funds based on student enrollment because it is a private institution.

"Endowments help operate some of our operating expenses and fund some of our student scholarships," Howell said.