The first rates under the university’s guaranteed tuition plan are set to be approved at the Board of Trustees first meeting of the year.
As students call on Ohio University officials to stop tuition hikes, the Board of Trustees is slated to raise costs next academic year.
The university’s plan to raise the rate of tuition, as it has done annually since the 2009-10 academic year, has sparked student protests on campus. After a student-opposition rally last week, the OU Student Union has scheduled another for Thursday afternoon.
But as OU adopts a new tuition model, the increase on the table for the 2015-16 academic year will differ from past hikes.
Guaranteed tuition vs. current system
Starting next semester under the new fixed-tuition plan, dubbed the OHIO Guarantee, students will be locked into tuition rates for a four-year period. University officials and board members have said the primary benefit of the program is the ability for students and families to plan out the cost of a four-year college education.
“The math sort of works out that 2 percent every year for four years is the same as 5.1 percent today flat for four years,” said Chad Mitchell, director of Budget Planning and Analysis..
By law, OU can only raise tuition by 2 percent per year, plus the rate of inflation — currently at about 0.8 percent — totaling nearly 3 percent overall.
“When projected across a student’s four years, The OHIO Guarantee is not expected to cost more than the 2 percent tuition increase cap that is regularly set by the state legislature,” said Peter Mather, associate professor and secretary to the board, in an email.
A 1.5 percent tuition increase was implemented for the 2014-15 academic year, which raised tuition for Ohio residents by $156 to the current $10,536 total. The proposed tuition and fee rate for the incoming class is $11,548.
While university documents also show proposed tuition hikes for the next three incoming classes, Mitchell said future rates — and the tuition hikes associated with them — are preliminary and will not be voted on at Friday’s meeting.
“The Board has long been interested in the benefit such a program could provide to prospective students and their families in terms of higher education, cost transparency and budgetary planning,” Mather said.
Student unrest
The OU Student Union’s Thursday rally against increases is set to take place at noon.
“The purpose of the rally is to give all students … an opportunity to express their concerns over basically increasing tuition and the university’s complacency with the nationwide problem of increasing tuition,” said Ryan Powers, a sophomore studying philosophy and a member of both the OU Student Union and Student Senate.
The Student Union’s rally last week attracted 60 people.
Board has long agenda outside of tuition hike
Other topics on the Board’s agenda include updates on the following:
- OU’s new scholarship program, the OHIO Signature Awards
- A 100-year long, $250 million bond dubbed the “Century Bond,” which was taken out in November
- Possible approval of construction projects, such as updates to Bobcat Lane and the demolition of several dormitories on South Green
- Admissions and scholarship information
- Possible approval to the revised Student Code of Conduct
- Results from a workplace climate survey administered to employees in Spring 2014
The Board of Trustees meeting will take place in Walter Hall on Thursday and Friday.
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