Tuition will increase by almost $2,200 for the 2010-2011 academic year
By Hannah Gray
Tuition is going up 4.51 percent for the 2010-2011 academic year, Vice President of Financial Affairs Denis Ransmeier said this week.
The increase brings the annual cost of undergraduate tuition to $32,190, which is almost $2,200 more than the current year's tuition.
Additionally, room and board is going up 4.75 percent. The minimum cost of on-campus room and board in the current year is slightly over $9,000, although a student's cost may be higher depending on his or her housing situation and board plan.
Referring to the tuition increase, Ransmeier noted that, historically, the annual increase for tuition at UP has been around 6 percent.
However, the University did not want to ask for more than it absolutely had to.
"4.5 percent is going to be a very modest percentage increase," said Ransmeier. "It's lower than I expect to see and lower than schools did last year."
Tuition increased 4.8 percent last year, while room and board increased 4.5 percent.
Ransmeier attributed this year's increases to many factors.
While last fall had the largest enrollment of a freshman class, the university did not earn as much revenue as anticipated, he said.
For some graduate programs, such as business and education, students signed up for fewer credits. Because graduate programs charge per credit, this added to the loss of expected revenue, according to Ransmeier.
At the same time, transfer student enrollment was down, Ransmeier said.
In addition, UP saw a significant increase in requests for financial aid, resulting in fewer students paying the full cost of UP.
Last year, about 3,500 people applied for financial aid.
This year, the amount more than doubled to about 7,300 applications, according to Janet Turner, the director of Financial Aid.
Many applicants are middle class, whose parents are too wealthy to qualify for grants and federal financial aid, but not wealthy enough to cover the increasing cost of college.
Alexandrea Chauboin is among them. The Evergreen High School senior from Vancouver, Wash., is the kind of high-achieving student UP tries to attract.
She has a 3.7 G.P.A., has taken six Advanced Placement classes, is the news editor of her school newspaper, a member of Knowledge Bowl and a member of her school's JV bowling team.
There's no place Chauboin would rather go for college than UP.
"I really want to go there because I think I'll fit in," Chauboin said. "I think I would really contribute to the school overall."
But finances stand in her way. Even though UP awarded her a $52,000 merit scholarship - to be distributed over four years - she still is struggling to find a way to finance the remaining $70,000.
"We never had enough money to put into a college fund for my brother and me," Chauboin said. "I'm just trying to figure out ways to money right now."
In reaction to the increased number of applications for financial aid at UP, Assistant Financial Aid Director Brian Flynn and UP Banner Analyst Michelle Chen are creating a packaging tool that will sort financial aid applications, according to Turner.
"It helps us to prioritize our work," Turner said. "It creates an exceptional list for us."
Turner said the exceptional list separates the applications that need closer attention from the rest of the applications.
However, the software is still in the testing phase.
The Financial Aid office, when calculating a student's need for financial aid, calculates the cost of attendance minus the expected family contribution, which is determined by the FAFSA, the standard federal application for financial aid.
"It depends on the student and how much need they have," Turner said about how the financial aid office determines a student's aid package.
Turner also noted that there is an increase in the number of students requesting a special circumstances appeal. There were 300 requests this year.
Special circumstances might include a parent's sudden job loss or another uncontrollable event that hampers a student's ability to pay tuition.
"We project the 2010 income, we recalculate to see if student is eligible for additional aid under the normal awarding (process)," Turner said.
Under special circumstances, Financial Aid recalculates a student's financial aid package with the student's new financial situation.
Financial Aid will add more loans to a student's financial aid package, if needed.
If there is still a gap in financial aid, Financial Aid looks at adding additional institutional aid, according to Turner.
"We do expect students to take out Stafford loans before they take additional aid," Turner added.
For many families, the thought of taking on more debt is too much.
Sophomore Emma Chadband is transferring to a different school because she can no longer afford the tuition.
"When I came to UP, I came as a nursing student," Chadband said. "I was planning to go slightly into debt, but I would have had a nursing degree to pay off loans quicker."
Now Chadband is an English major and a fine arts minor.
"But then, when I changed degrees, and I know I won't be able to pay off my loans quickly, so I have to transfer to a cheaper school," she said.
Initially, Chadband's parents were helping her pay for college.
However, the money her parents had for her was invested in the stock market, which crashed in 2008 and hasn't fully recovered.
"I'm not eligible for any grants through FAFSA because my parents, with all their savings, make too much money for grants, even though it's not going towards my education," Chadband said.
Turner said that her department has seen an increase in students seeking outside scholarships, which she encourages.
In addition to an increased number of financial aid applications, there has been an increase in the number of families using the monthly payment plan through Tuition Management Systems.
"Last academic year, we had 826 families using the monthly payment plan," said Heidi Keller, the director of Student Accounts. "This year we have 939."
Unlike loans, the monthly payment plan is interest-free. However, there is a $60 sign-up fee.
"We've been pushing the monthly payment plans," Keller said.
