Tuition at the University of Southern Indiana will increase by about 10 percent, or $724, over the next two school years.
USI’s Board of Trustees approved the tuition hike during a special meeting Wednesday afternoon that immediately followed a public hearing on the increases.
USI President Linda Bennett said USI remains “incredibly affordable” compared to other four-year public residential intuitions in the state. Bennett said the increases are needed, in part, to aid employee raises, growth for undergraduate and graduate programs, and to increase full-time faculty.
“While we’re not trying to minimize the fact it is an increase, again it is an increase that will allow us to hire more faculty … (and) allow us to provide even a minimal level of compensation increase to employees who work here,” she said.
More than 20 people were present at the Griffin Center for the hearing, which consisted of a presentation by Bennett.
There was no public comment on the increases.
Next school year, tuition for a full-time, in-state, undergraduate student will be $7,460, an increase of about $355. In 2018-19, tuition is set at $7,829, an increase of around $369.
The tuition hike includes a mandatory technology fee increase of $2.50 per credit hour in 2017-18 and in 2018-19, which officials said has not been increased in “some time.”
Per Indiana law, state universities must set tuition and student fees for a two-year period after the state’s biennial budget is adopted, and a public hearing is required before rate increases are adopted.
Bennett said the tuition increases are not a new topic for the board; members have discussed it for “a long time.”
She said officials take the tuition rise “seriously.”
“Students want more services,” she said. “Students want to see more faculty. No, they don’t want to see an increase in cost. And I don’t blame them; I wouldn’t either. But this is part of what we have to do in terms of operating this university.”
Looking at other four-year Indiana universities, compared to the “low” state appropriation, Bennett said USI was put in a “difficult position in order to grow. And growth is part of where we need to be, and where we are headed.”
Board of Trustees First Vice Chair Harold Calloway said tuition increases are always a concern, but USI’s state appropriation continues to diminish.
“The cost to provide quality programming is vitally important,” Calloway said. “Unfortunately an increase in tuition is necessary for us based on the need to have quality professors and instructors.”
Per semester credit hour fees for Indiana residents next school year increase to $246.66 for an undergraduate student, and $367.68 for a graduate student. Non-resident undergraduate students will pay $601.87 per credit hour, and non-resident graduate students will pay $722.78.
In 2018-19, per semester credit hour student fees will be increased to $258.96 for Indiana resident undergraduate students; $385.00 for Indiana resident graduate students; $628.55 for non-resident undergraduate students; and $754.32 for non-resident graduate students.
Board of Trustees Chairman Jeff Knight said he approved the increases, in part, because officials want to take USI’s quality to a “higher level.”
“The way we’re going to do that is tracking and retaining high-level professors. … We have a fair percentage of professors here who are part-time,” Knight said. “To improve the quality of education for our students, who by the way ought to be interested in investing in that and seeing they are getting a good education, that’s why this tuition increase was needed.”