Students urged University of Michigan to avoid tuition increase
DeAndree Watson, Michigan Student Assembly president hoped that University of Michigan wouldn't increase tuition this fall.
The MSA passed a resolution urging that outcome from the Board of Regents, who met in Ann Arbor on Thursday afternoon.
However, the request didn't work. Only two regents, Denise Ilitch and Laurence Deitch, voted against the increase. It passed as part of the 2011-2012 budget: Instate undergrads now can expect to pay $797 to $898 more during this school year, while out-of-state undergrads face a $1,781 to $1,908 tuition hike.
University of Michigan student assembly president DeAndree Watson waits for his turn to address the Board of Regents meeting at the Fleming Administration Building on Thursday.
Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com
“Our rich cultural diversity is part of what prepares our students for future success. But as a result, Michigan is home to a number of students with many different needs,” Watson said. “I am a part of a community on campus that relies on scholarships and financial aid to attend this university, and in a time when higher education expenses are becoming more of a burden on the average student, students are concerned that a college degree will eventually be out of reach.”
The MSA resolution passed in April points out that, before the current increase, tuition at the university rose 22 percent in the last 5 years, while median household income in Michigan decreased by 1.7 percent.
After hearing about the tuition increase Thursday, Watson acknowledged that the university’s hand was forced by the steep cuts in funding.
“From a student’s perspective, we are definitely aware that many public institutions in the state are in tough shape due to the deep cuts from the state,” he said.
He's also hesitant to blame U-M.
“We won’t look at an increase as an indictment on the university, but as a direct result of the funding cuts from the state,” he said.
Phil Hanlon, U-M provost, said that the tuition increases will account for $46.4 million in increased revenue for the university.
However, student aid also will increase, according to U-M. Need-based aid from the university will increase by $9.2 million. This 10.9 percent increase means that “a typical Michigan resident undergraduate, with a family income of less than $80,000, would pay less today than in 2004,” Hanlon said.
Watson also expressed his gratitude for the office of financial aid, and his support for the increased funding to the department.
"As a recipient of financial aid myself, I can attest to the work of the office of financial aid to make the university more accessible to all students," Watson said. "On behalf of the students of the university, I applaud the office for its work."
Under the new budget, tuition and fees will make up 69 percent of the university's $6 billion in revenue, with state funding making up only 17 percent. In 1960, state funding accounted for 79 percent of the budget.
The recent $47.5 million cut in state funding is the largest in the university’s 194-year history. Hanlon said that taking inflation into account, the cut takes Michigan back to it’s funding level in 1964.
He added that he believed the university would have come up with the numbers it did for tuition and fee increases without Gov. Rick Snyder’s recommendation not to increase tuition by more than 7.1 percent.
Ben Freed is a summer intern at AnnArbor.com. You can reach him by email at benfreed@annarbor.com or by phone at (734)-623-4674. Follow him on Twitter @BFreedInA2.
Comments
WhyCan'tWeBeFriends
Fri, Jun 17, 2011 : 3:14 a.m.
When we looked at the truly big picture - one child graduated from UM (super qualified, zero merit aid), one child still in a much less expensive but otherwise highly regarded Michigan university (OK merit aid), and a third child unlikely to get any aid for merit due to the desired major (2010 high school grad), we looked at private schools, both inside and outside Michigan. Guess what? Private schools will give highly talented students enormous amounts of merit aid! They really do want the best/brightest at their schools, not just the athletically capable, and will pay to have them enroll in their schools! Parents, don't be sticker-shocked by the price tags on some of these schools, or all of them for that matter. Have your students apply to lots of schools. Consider everything, as we finally figured out. Tuition = $26,000+ or so, but our youngest's GPA and other merit awards (scholarships, not loans) have now dropped the cost of attendance at a private and highly competitive school to about $6000 for us per year. Off-campus housing is better and certainly no more expensive than what is available here in AA, and location is in a big east coast city where bargains wouldn't seem likely. Do your homework. I wish it hadn't taken us until child #3 to figure all of it out. I'd rather have gifted them down payments on home purchases or bought them cars than believe that the best deals were right here in Michigan universities.
visiongirl
Fri, Jun 17, 2011 : 1:01 a.m.
I commend the student body president, but really, did he truly think he was going to make a difference. UofM was going raise tuition regardless of Synder being in office or not. Because they have great brand recognition, they think they can raise tuition and people will continue to come. They feel like they do not have to look internally to find opportunities to save money. So the university keeps getting bigger and the students have to bare the burden of increase tuition. As a student that had the opportunity to work inside the university this semester, I truly sadden by the wasteful spending and lack of control UofM has with their unions. They give the hourly unions everything and poor performing salary managers continue to work at the university because like professors, they get tenure too. I really wish the university would stop raising tuition and look internally for cost savings. Yes...Plant Blue for energy savings is ok, but they they truly need to look deeper at internal processes that utilize unnecessary manpower and could be computerized. And closing an Autism Center that was already closing does not count as a cost savings.
Ignatz
Fri, Jun 17, 2011 : 4:37 p.m.
I can absolutely tell you that the U does not, "...give the hourly unions everything...". Look at the pay for upper administration and faculty and comopare them to the unions. Then, tell me who gets everything.
Christopher LeClair
Fri, Jun 17, 2011 : 12:48 a.m.
Far too often the voice of the student body is silenced. Well actually, it can be heard but apparently it turns into garbled talk. One thing I am curious about is the average income of the regents who voted to increase tuition so dramatically. I don't think they are fully aware of the strains on the middle class and lower classes. It would be nice if the U was willing to figure out ways to budget without playing all the burden on the students. Isn't the U ranked one of the highest in the nation as far as tuition yet its US News ranking consistently drops year by year? No offense, I'm a UofM grad and will love the U til I die. I just would like to see them figure out a way to stay on top instead of constantly slipping.
loves_fall
Fri, Jun 17, 2011 : 12:30 a.m.
Since when does UM listen to its students? I wish they'd divorce financial aid from family income already. Just because a family has income doesn't mean that the student doesn't still end up saddled with loan debt because their parents couldn't/wouldn't pay the EFC.