Students at West Virginia University face another tuition hike this fall, after the university's Board of Governors approved at least a 4 percent increase for all undergraduate, graduate and professional students on Friday.
MONTGOMERY, W.Va. -- Students at West Virginia University face another tuition hike this fall, after the university's Board of Governors approved at least a 4 percent increase for all undergraduate, graduate and professional students on Friday.
The BOG met Friday morning at the WVU Institute of Technology campus in Montgomery. All but two BOG members voted for the increase.
Steve Goodwin and Jason Parsons, the student representative, argued that, given the state of the national economy, now is the wrong time to burden West Virginia students and their families with another increase.
In Maryland, lawmakers recently froze college tuition rates because Gov. Martin O'Malley has invested more money into higher education, Parsons said. He hasn't seen the same effort in West Virginia.
"We've got to send the message that this university is still in the business of putting people first," he said.
Narvel Weese, WVU vice president of administration and finance, said that without the tuition increase, faculty and staff would probably have been negatively affected.
Interim Provost E. Jane Martin said the tuition increase is essential to raise more than $9 million in revenue to cover operating costs. In large part, the new money will help support last year's pay raises for faculty and staff, fund the university's new child-care center and offset increases to public employees' health insurance and utility costs, she said.
Still, Parsons told his fellow board members, "I think we're slightly missing the mark."
For some students, paying an extra $200 or more each year "is an awful lot," he said. "Going back to the well" each year is not a sustainable option, he said.
This fall, undergraduate, in-state students will see their tuition increase by at least $102 per semester, while out-of-state undergraduates will see at least a $316 increase. A general studies in-state undergraduate will pay $2,652, this fall, while a nonresident undergraduate will owe $8,201 per semester
On top of that, some undergraduate students, depending on their major, will pay an additional $32 more per semester.
Also, graduate students will see similar increases: at least $113 for in-state graduate students and $325 for out-of-state students.
Health professional students in dentistry, pharmacy, public health, physical therapy and pathology also will see a 4 percent tuition increase. Nursing students face a 9 percent tuition increase of $290 per semester.
Students who live in most residence halls also will see a 4.5 percent increase in room and board costs.
MONTGOMERY, W.Va. -- Students at West Virginia University face another tuition hike this fall, after the university's Board of Governors approved at least a 4 percent increase for all undergraduate, graduate and professional students on Friday.
The BOG met Friday morning at the WVU Institute of Technology campus in Montgomery. All but two BOG members voted for the increase.
Steve Goodwin and Jason Parsons, the student representative, argued that, given the state of the national economy, now is the wrong time to burden West Virginia students and their families with another increase.
In Maryland, lawmakers recently froze college tuition rates because Gov. Martin O'Malley has invested more money into higher education, Parsons said. He hasn't seen the same effort in West Virginia.
"We've got to send the message that this university is still in the business of putting people first," he said.
Narvel Weese, WVU vice president of administration and finance, said that without the tuition increase, faculty and staff would probably have been negatively affected.
Interim Provost E. Jane Martin said the tuition increase is essential to raise more than $9 million in revenue to cover operating costs. In large part, the new money will help support last year's pay raises for faculty and staff, fund the university's new child-care center and offset increases to public employees' health insurance and utility costs, she said.
Still, Parsons told his fellow board members, "I think we're slightly missing the mark."
For some students, paying an extra $200 or more each year "is an awful lot," he said. "Going back to the well" each year is not a sustainable option, he said.
This fall, undergraduate, in-state students will see their tuition increase by at least $102 per semester, while out-of-state undergraduates will see at least a $316 increase. A general studies in-state undergraduate will pay $2,652, this fall, while a nonresident undergraduate will owe $8,201 per semester
On top of that, some undergraduate students, depending on their major, will pay an additional $32 more per semester.
Also, graduate students will see similar increases: at least $113 for in-state graduate students and $325 for out-of-state students.
Health professional students in dentistry, pharmacy, public health, physical therapy and pathology also will see a 4 percent tuition increase. Nursing students face a 9 percent tuition increase of $290 per semester.
Students who live in most residence halls also will see a 4.5 percent increase in room and board costs.
Last year, the BOG approved an 8 percent increase in tuition and fees. This school year, in-state undergraduates owed $189 more per semester than what they paid during the 2007-08 school year.
Students at Potomac State College in Keyser and WVU Tech in Montgomery also face tuition increases and residence hall rate increases.
In-state associate and bachelor's degree students at Potomac State will each see about a 6 percent tuition increase of $80 and $104. WVU Tech's in-state undergraduate students also will pay at least a $100 increase in tuition and fees.
Also Friday:
| BOG members unanimously re-elected Carolyn Long as chairwoman, Drew Payne as vice chairman and Ted Mattern as secretary for another year.
| Board members bid farewell to interim university president C. Peter Magrath, who will step down June 30 when Jim Clements takes over. Clements also attended Friday's meeting.
Long thanked Magrath for his "decisiveness with kindness."
"He's come at a time when we needed a little bit of help," Long said.
Magrath started at WVU after former president Mike Garrison and other top university officials resigned after a master's degree had been retroactively awarded to Mylan Inc. executive Heather Bresch, daughter of Gov. Joe Manchin. Members of an investigative panel said university officials should not have awarded Bresch the degree, and said they exercised seriously flawed judgment.
| Magrath and Weese estimated that an incoming freshmen class of between 4,500 and 4,700 students would arrive in Morgantown this fall.
| The Board of Governors reached two agreements with WVU at Parkersburg. The Parkersburg school is allowed to continue to use WVU's "Flying WV" logo and other registered designs, official colors and trademarks on merchandise and for marketing, as long as WVU at Parkersburg officials agree to follow specific terms.
The Parkersburg school also will continue to receive administrative support and other services from WVU for what university officials call a "reasonable, customary fee."
Reach Davin White at davinwh...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1254.
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BOG: you have the privilage of serving your school. do not assume that privilage includes fleecing students to your personal benefit.
Access to Education is not a comodity sold to the highest bidder. Education is the foundation this country relys on to compete with the world. Raise the cost of higher education and you limit the countries capacity to be the greatest country in the world.
Personal greed made this Country great. Unfortunately is seems it has also led to it's demise.
toodles.
Do the tuition fees paid cover the exuberant administrative personnel salaries? If so, the tuition increases will continue to climb.
Worse, they are raising the rates nursing students pay far above other students at a time when nursing staff is at an all time low and every nurse graduate is needed. What is wrong with this picture?
Steve Goodwin and Jason Parsons has it right. There should be a freeze of tuition to encourage more young people to attend and what does WVU do? Let's increase tuition on the very few professions this state has left to offer people when they graduate to keep them in state. Silly me, I thought it took an education to run a higher education facility. I should have known better.