SUNY Proposes Tuition Increase for Upcoming Academic Year
By Amanda Mayo The SUNY Board of Trustees recently approved a $2.38 billion budget request for the 2008-09 school year, which will include a five percent tuition increase for all students, according to a SUNY press release. The tuition increase, which totals to $110 per student each semester, is part of a new funding proposal called the SUNY Compact. The Compact seeks to bring 1,000 additional full-time faculty to SUNY's campuses over a three year period. "With the SUNY Compact, students may experience modest tuition increases in exchange for greater access, smaller classes, better services, and enhanced research facilities," the press release stated. It went on to say that students and parents will not have to worry about being hit with large and unexpected tuition increases. The budget was passed by the Board on Tuesday by a 10-1 vote, with one abstention. Student trustee Donald Boyce, the lone dissenter, voted against the budget proposal, which will be reviewed by Governor Spitzer in January. An increase in the budget for state-operated campuses makes up $181 million of the $287 million total increase in the SUNY budget. Although the state picks up almost $100 million of the tab in this proposal, the budget presentation showed that $48.5 million would come from tuition increases. The rest of the money depends on non-state support, including funds from hospitals and sponsored activity. Student groups at Stony Brook such as NYPIRG and the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) believe that the state should be responsible for this part of the budget, instead of parents and students paying through tuition increases. Although SUNY calls its five percent tuition increase "modest," students at Stony Brook may have to pay even more fees in the upcoming semesters. Joe Antonelli, president of Stony Brook's USG, presented a resolution to the USG Senate during a recent meeting. The resolution does not support a tuition increase. The resolution stated that the increase of tuition is not just a five percent increase because it will be added to any increases students might see in comprehensive fees (such as transportation and activity fees). The increase rates for comprehensive fees, which are set by individual campuses, is currently at 3.4%. Stony Brookâs transportation fee saw a large increase in 2007-2008. "Our fees go up every year and with the tuition going up it's a large burden on the students," Antonelli said. "We urge the state legislature to increase funding to SUNY." Antonelli also referred to unpredictable tuition increases as "tuition roulette." The last tuition increase was in 2003, and it went up by 28%. The resolution argued that this system makes it hard for students and parents to plan for college. Besides the addition of 1,000 full-time faculty, the SUNY budget proposal included other initiatives such as the "greening" of campuses, building renovations, and increased campus security. Jacqueline Lee, a program coordinator at the Stony Brook chapter of the New York Public Interest Research Group, says that NYPIRG supports an increase in funding for the benefit of higher education, but does not think that students should be responsible for this through a tuition increase. "We maintain that the state should supply sufficient funding," Lee said. Mark Maciulaitis, Stony Brook's budget director, noted that the five percent tuition increase may not be agreed upon by all parties come January. The groups include the SUNY Board of Trustees, the Governor's Office, and the Legislature. Maciulaitis also said that a student consultation process takes place at Stony Brook for all comprehensive fees. This way, students do have some involvement in determining the next year's fees. "There is a possibility that if SUNY does experience a tuition increase, our students may have to pay higher tuition rate and higher fees next year," Maciulaitis said. |
