Last modified: Friday, May 20, 2011
IU to conduct public hearing on tuition, fees
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 20, 2011
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana University Board of Trustees will conduct a public hearing on Tuesday, May 31, to hear student and public comment on proposed tuition and fees to be set for all IU campuses for the next two academic years.
The hearing will get under way at 8 a.m. in Room 450A of the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Campus Center, 420 University Blvd., Indianapolis, Ind., 46202. The public also will be able to view the proceedings live on the Internet at https://broadcast.iu.edu.
IU officials will outline proposed tuition and fee rates for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years and describe how these revenues will be used to maintain and improve academic quality. Members of the public in attendance who wish to ask questions or make comments will be given up to three minutes to address the board.
The public also may address the board via e-mails during the forum. The e-mail address for submitting a question or comment is tuition@indiana.edu.
Following the hearing, trustees will convene at 9 a.m. in the same location to deliberate and consider approval of the proposed tuition and fee rate schedule. A detailed chart showing recommended increases for all graduate and undergraduate programs at all campuses can be viewed at https://www.indiana.edu/~tuition/documents/Indiana University_Proposed Fees_FY12_FY13.pdf.
At the IU Bloomington campus, the recommendation is for a 3.5 percent increase in tuition in each of the next two years for undergraduate students who are Indiana residents.
For in-state undergraduate students at IUPUI and IU's five regional campuses at Gary, Kokomo, New Albany, Richmond and South Bend, the recommendation is for a 2.5 percent increase for each of the next two years.
These recommendations are consistent with the tuition targets set by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.
In addition to the tuition increases, IU President Michael A. McRobbie is recommending that IU charge a temporary fee to help cover the cost of necessary repair work and ongoing maintenance costs for IU's 900 buildings and associated infrastructure.
Over the past decade, the state has funded only about 20 percent of what the state's formula provides for maintenance at IU, and this funding shortfall has resulted in a backlog totaling more than $600 million on IU's seven campuses. In the new state budget for the 2011-13 biennium, the General Assembly for the first time included no funding for repair and maintenance needs for public universities.
For that reason, McRobbie said, IU has no choice but to seek a temporary fee to finance critical maintenance needs that can no longer be deferred. He noted that many other colleges and universities already charge such a fee for repair and maintenance of facilities.
"Many of our buildings are very old, some over 100 years old, and we must make significant investments in repair and maintenance projects to ensure their continued use," McRobbie said. "Other buildings the state has invested in at IU also contain expensive and highly complex laboratory and research equipment. We have a responsibility to protect these investments.
"Every homeowner understands that regular repairs and proper maintenance are essential to avoid paying far higher costs later if such repairs are put off. The same is true of the buildings and infrastructure that the state has entrusted to Indiana University. We simply cannot ignore the work that is necessary to keep our buildings safe and in good repair."
At IU Bloomington, McRobbie is recommending a temporary repair and maintenance fee of $180 per full-time student in the 2011-12 academic year and $360 the following year. At IUPUI, the temporary fee would be $160 per full-time student the first year and $320 the second year, while full-time students at the regional campuses would pay $60 the first year and $120 the second year.
The combined increase of tuition plus the repair and maintenance fee at IU Bloomington would be 5.5 percent in 2011-12 and 5.4 percent in 2012-13. At IUPUI, it would be 4.5 percent in 2011-12 and 4.4 percent in 2012-13, and at the regional campuses, 3.5 percent in 2011-12 and 3.4 percent in 2012-13.
Non-resident students at IU Bloomington would see tuition increase by 6 percent in each of the next two years. The combined increase, including the repair and maintenance fee, would bring the increase to a total of 6.7 percent in 2011-12 and 6.6 percent in 2012-13.
All revenue from the new fee will be sequestered and used only for needed repair and maintenance projects. Because the backlog has grown so large, funding for these projects also will be drawn from reserve accounts and from savings achieved from administrative overhead reductions.
McRobbie said that while he attempted to keep the tuition increases as low as possible, they are needed to cover significant increases in operating costs facing the university next year. These include a $10 million increase for employee health care and a $6 million increase in utility costs. At the same time, IU over the past three years has seen its level of state operating support drop by $38 million, or nearly 8 percent.
Over the past two years, IU has cut its base operating costs by $29.3 million, and just this week announced that it will close the School of Continuing Studies, at a savings of up to $4 million, and transfer those students into other schools with similar course offerings.
"We have seen significant reductions in state revenues over the past few years, and we have attempted to absorb them by making our administrative processes leaner and more efficient," McRobbie said. "We have been successful at that. However, we cannot cover all our anticipated needs by continuing to reduce administrative costs. To maintain our academic quality and fully serve the needs of our growing student population, these recommended tuition increases also are needed."
