Lack of revenue leads to
tuition increase
 By
Heather Mangold
and Laura Pelner
Because of a lack of incoming state revenues, higher
education institutions are being forced to make cutbacks within school
budgets.
As one institution facing economic challenges,
Purdue has enforced a tuition increase of 7.5 percent, the highest in
nine years, for all students.
In an effort to minimize the impact, Purdue officials
did some internal budget cutting and reallocated University funds.
Terry Strueh, vice president of state relations,
said cutting into the University's general operating budget was not
something the school wanted to do. However, because of shortfalls in
money allocated from the state government, Strueh said funds were cut
in the technology department and in other areas.
The University reallocated about 1.7 percent of
its existing West Lafayette budget, according to James David, the director
of budget and fiscal planning for Purdue.
David said the reallocations were targeted and
done in a way to protect the instructional parts of the budget. "I think
that's kind of the key," he said. "In this reallocation we're very careful
to protect the instructional budget."
The instructional budget provides for some of the
funding for faculty and staff, and protecting it was a priority for
University officials.
"We prefer to cut in these areas rather than general
funds from which we pay faculty and staff," said Strueh. "That isn't
on the horizon at this point."
In order to protect the instructional funds, the
University cut back on supply and expense budgets and left some vacant
positions open. However, no one was fired, David said.
Tim McGinley, chairman of the Board of Trustees,
said the tuition increase was necessary. "I think the tuition increase
was required for Purdue to remain competitive in offering attractive
compensation to the faculty," he said. "We're committed to make Purdue
a first-rate institution; to do that requires adequate resources."
It's also likely that state legislature will go
into special session this fall to study the Indiana budget. Larry Deboer,
professor of agricultural economics, said such a session would reopen
the budget for further review.
"If revenues continue to fall short of expectations
for the rest of this year, it will put the budget, as officially planned,
in much worse shape than it appears now," said Deboer. "That might require
them to open the budget in the coming short session."
Strueh added that in July alone the state's income
was approximately $83 million less than the originally projected amount.
"It's like you were counting your paycheck and
it came out $83 million less than you expected," said Strueh. "That's
quite a bit."
This represents a "pretty desperate situation"
for the state, according to Deboer.
"They passed a budget that was in deficit hoping
that the economy would turn around," said Deboer. "The first month of
the new fiscal session hasn't proven an improvement in the economy."
Some factors influencing state revenues include
personal income, inflation rates and gross product income, said Deboer.
Purdue's 7.5 percent tuition increase affects both
in- and out-of-state students alike. This year, in-state fees increased
$292 and out-of-state fees increased $968.
That translates into a total tuition bill of $4,164
a year for Indiana residents and $13,872 a year for all other students.
|
