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Adoption of rational tuition policy urged
By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor
The message to state legislators attending a joint hearing of the Senate and Assembly Higher Education committees on Monday was clear: SUNY needs a rational tuition policy.
Remarks from numerous witnesses at the hearing, held at Buffalo State College, stressed that a rational tuition policy, in which tuition would increase by a modest amount on a regular basis, would benefit both students and the university.
Although legislators seemed to support such a policy, they were skeptical that students would see the benefits. Assemblyman Ron Canestrari, D-Cohoes, chairman of the Assembly Standing Committee on Higher Education, noted that without a change in the state constitution, the Legislature cannot legally guarantee that additional tuition revenue would go to "upgrade and not supplant or replace other tax dollars going into SUNY."
The hearing was the last of four across the state examining the future of higher education in the public sector. While witnesses addressed other issues, such as capital improvements, most focused their remarks on the need for a rational tuition policy.
Incorporating such a policy would maintain access to higher education and provide budget stability, Marsha Henderson, UB vice president for external affairs, told committee members.
"Whether we like it or not, expenses increase every year," said Henderson, who spoke at the hearing representing President John B. Simpson, who was out of town. "UB and other institutions are forced to find added revenues to pay the bills. With direct state support waning over the past 15 years, we have been forced to increase student fees to help balance our budgets," she said. "The problem is, student fees and other revenue streams that the university is authorized to raise without legislative approval are not covered by TAP (the state's Tuition Assistance Program).
"By adopting a rational tuition policy and indexing modest tuition increases each year, TAP would help offset the increase for students in need, maintaining the goal of accessibility to students of modest means," she said.
Henderson noted that UB polled more than 1,000 undergraduates on this issue, and nearly 80 percent said that stability of tuition was "most important" or "very important," and that more than 70 percent said that they would be more motivated to earn a degree in four years "if they knew tuition was stable."
"This is good for the students and their families; good for the university," she added.
"A rational tuition plan signals a new kind of understanding about the critical place and promise of the future of higher education in New York State," she said. "This new understanding is a commitment on the part of the state that it will have a predictable, accessible and quality higher education system for its residents."
Henderson comments were echoed by Muriel Howard, former UB vice president who now heads Buffalo State College, and Robert T. Brady, chairman and CEO of Moog Inc. and a member of the board of the UB Foundation.
Howard called a rational tuition policy "critical" to SUNY's future growth and sustenance.
She pointed out that the average Buffalo State student comes from a family of five with an annual income of $37,500, and when tuition is raised, students and their families "find it difficult to reach back and find the additional resources to continue their education." In fact, the college noticed a "brief dip" in enrollment the last time tuition was increased, she said.
"I think it's critical that those families know what their future will look like," she said.
"A rational tuition policy, combined with a continued commitment to access, will provide our students with a valuable planning tool with which to finance their education," she said. In developing such a policy, SUNY should consider "that which is predictable—incremental tuition increases are more sensible than our current practice of occasional large hikes that students and their families cannot prepare for, and institutions cannot count on in advance."
In making his case for a rational tuition policy, Brady noted that UB and other SUNY institutions provide the skilled engineers needed by his company and others. A rational tuition policy would provide UB and other SUNY schools with the tools to maintain and expand access to higher education, provide a foundation upon which excellence can prosper and provide Moog and other companies with a skilled workforce, he said.
"In the private sector, we thrive on the concept of predictability," Brady said. "Our investors want to know what to expect and in my job I need the most accurate accounting of projected revenues so I can plan for growth accordingly. By enacting a rational tuition policy, you enable UB and others to plan on multi-year budget cycles and therefore they can make programmatic decisions that will increase faculty, facilities and overall excellence throughout the public higher education system."
R. Nils Olsen Jr., dean of the UB Law School, briefed legislators on the rational tuition policy that has been in effect in the Law School for the past nine years. Tuition has increased annually for eight of the past nine academic years—tuition was not increased during the current 2005-06 academic year, Olsen noted.
Since 1996-97, in-state tuition has increased $6,070, with an average annual increase of $674. Out-of-state tuition has increased $7,520, with an annual increase of $836.
With this additional revenue, the Law School has increased its full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty by seven and its full-time non-tenure track faculty by nine, Olsen said. The school also has significantly increased its investments in scholarships, fellowships and other forms of financial support to students, and hired additional admissions, financial aid, development and student services staff.
The end result, Olsen pointed out, has been increases in applications, selectivity and minority enrollment, as well as greater alumni participation in the school's development efforts.
Despite the increases in tuition, a recent survey found that tuition charged by UB Law School was the fifth least expensive among the 51 institutions in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states, as well as Michigan and Ohio, he said.
"Based upon nearly a decade of experience, I believe that the Law School's experience demonstrates that a rational annual tuition process can achieve the complimentary goals of significantly improving the quality of education provided by the New York State higher education system, while at the same time ensuring the access and diversity that is the hallmark of public higher education," Olsen said.
D. Bruce Johnstone, University Professor of Higher and Comparative Education at UB, told committee members he was speaking as a scholar of higher education finance and not as a former SUNY chancellor, a position he held from 1988-1994.
Johnstone pointed out that it's "totally appropriately" that students and their parents bear some of the cost of their educations. But that share should only be about 35-40 percent of actual undergraduate costs, he said.
He argued that tuition should, in most cases, increase every year because most costs increase every year, noting that among those increasing annual costs are faculty and staff salaries.
He also suggested that SUNY undergraduate tuition vary by "sector," with the four university centers charging more because of their "substantially higher per-student costs."