By Katie Schleiss
Although the University has not entirely escaped the pain of the economic recession, Finance Vice President Denis Ransmeier said that the University would do all in its power to prevent next year's tuition increase from exceeding last year's increase.
"This is a hard time for families, and they are struggling to make ends meet in the downturned economy. We have never felt more pressure to hold tuition down during these hard times," Ransmeier said.
As a result, the University will provide an increase in aid accompanying the increase in tuition.
"I think that if they didn't raise scholarship rates alongside tuition increases, it would impact a lot of students in their decision to come back, myself included," freshman Angie Winczewski said.
According to Ransmeier, the University's endowment value, or the total value of the University's investments, has dropped by 28 percent. The prediction for next year's endowment distribution is $3.4 million, compared to last year's $4.8 million. Typically, a decrease in the value of the endowment will lead to an increase in tuition. However, Ransmeier said that the increase would not reflect the sharp decline in endowment value.
"We expect that tuition will rise less than five percent, which is the lowest percent rise in the past five years," Ransmeier said. "Our endowment is smaller than most schools and we need to bring in revenue from tuition. The raise in tuition will be the smallest percent rise ever. Scholarships will also increase in proportion with the tuition increase."
The full-time tuition bill, before accounting for scholarships, in 2007-2008 was $27,500. This number increased to $29,400 in 2008-2009, increasing 6.91 percent.
However, in the 2007-2008 school year, the average tuition bill was $13,310. When compared to the average tuition bill of $14,435 in the 2008-2009 school year, tuition with scholarships increased 8.46 percent.
However, Ransmeier said that tuition increases every school year because prices and costs go up. In addition to inflationary pressure, utility bills increase and more money is needed to pay University employees that are promoted. Even airline costs are increasing, which are needed for the sports teams that travel.
"A major factor in the tuition is the amount of people who attend the school, but since the tuition is so high, there aren't a lot of people returning," sophomore Kristina Large said. "So, the tuition goes up to account for all of the people leaving. The recession doesn't help much either."
Ransmeier said that the University is more concerned about tuition prices so that students can return.
Freshman Breighley Sexton said that she thinks the school means well when deciding to raise scholarships along with tuition and that this action will certainly help those who rely heavily on scholarships. But, she points out that those who do not receive scholarships will still be affected by the change.
Sexton is paying for her education through a combination of University scholarships, private scholarships, and a number of state grants. Even after all of these, she said that she would have about a $100 left over to pay out of pocket.
When Sexton first started applying to colleges, she said that she was turned off from the University of Portland because of the high tuition. However, in the end she decided to come here because of the scenery and close proximity of relatives.
"If I had known how much debt I would have to go into to pay for tuition, I probably would not have come here," Sexton said. "If tuition were to raise without raising scholarships, I would definitely have to reconsider my choice of UP."
According to Ransmeier, very few actually pay the full amount because more than 90 percent of undergraduates receive some form of aid, whether merit-based or financial need-based. The 'sticker price' for tuition, or the price assigned to everyone before factoring in scholarships and grants, will rise and the small proportion of students who pay the full sticker price will be most affected.
"The University doesn't want to increase tuition faster than the raise of the annual average household income, because then the University would become a school only accessible to the rich instead of being accessible to everyone," Ransmeier said.
Ransmeier said that other schools feel the same obligation to their students; otherwise they would go out of business. He explained that public schools are hurting the worst right now because they receive most of their money from the government, which is struggling greatly.
"This is a painful time for us, but in comparison to other schools, we are doing fine," Ransmeier said.
