Appalachian State University trustees vote $400 tuition increase
By Frank Ruggiero

Appalachian State University leapt a hurdle towards a considerable campus-based tuition increase for the 2006-07 academic year.

The university’s board of trustees voted in favor of the increase, which would see tuition rise $400 from $1,821 to $2,221. Jane Helm, vice chancellor for business affairs, reminded the trustees that the University of North Carolina system Board of Governors placed a limit of $322 on campus-based tuition, though the cap “would not apply to increases in debt service fees or a fee that provides operating funds for facilities previously approved by the board.”

Chancellor Ken Peacock said in a previous interview that ASU would attempt to seek an exception to the rule, as the board of governors will allow chancellors to request exceptions.

When the UNC system allowed campus-based tuition in 2000, Appalachian State opted not to do so, meaning other campuses have benefited from five years of increased revenue. As such, Peacock said 2006-07 will be time to catch up.

Helm broke down the increase, saying tuition ($1,821 resident) would increase by $400, with the educational and technology student fee ($218) increasing by $50, the athletics fee ($361) increasing by $95 and the educational and recreational fee ($156.50) increasing by $90. In total, Peacock will ask the board of governors for a $635 increase.

Helm told how the debt services fee ($297), unaffected by the limit, would increase by $105, while the textbook rental fee ($156) would increase $8 and the transportation fee ($44) $3. In terms of housing ($2,910) and food services ($1,748), both would increase by $190 and $112, respectively.

For 2005-06, the combined total of tuition, general fees, debt service fees, miscellaneous fees, and subsistence amounted to $8,093.50, and the proposed hike would boost the sum by $1,053 to $9,146.50.

Robert Fox, chairman of the board, reminded the trustees that, “In four academic years, there were only two of those four years that a campus-based tuition was approved.”

Trustee Jim Deal noted that ASU is ranked 10th in the system in terms of cost of tuition.

Helm said the increase would generate more than $5 million for the university, while those enrolled in financial aid would still be held harmless. She said 22.3 percent of total tuition, or $1,126,685, would benefit hold harmless financial aid, while 15 percent, or $757,860, would go to faculty salary equity, and 62.7 percent, or $3,167,855, would fund other academic and student support.

Student body president Jud Watkins pointed out that the increase is the largest proposed tuition increase in the history of Appalachian, and that the university is showing a trend of higher and higher increases each time an increase is proposed.

Watkins said he’d like to see the trustees show students that they’re committed to not continuing with such sizable increases. He said students would better appreciate the work of the board if the trustees would seek funding through an alternate method.

Though he sympathized with Watkins, Deal said that as trustees, the board must ensure the quality of education first and foremost, while also ensuring that faculty members earn their fair share.

“In order to maintain these two goals, it’s a matter of how do we pay for that?” Deal asked, adding that in North Carolina, the economy has taken a downturn resulting in less state funding for ASU. “In order to maintain the quality of education, we need to figure out how to pay for that.”

With the state not picking up the cost, Deal continued, the trustees are left with students having to pay more tuition. He acknowledged that tuition is $900 higher than it was five years ago, and said it’s difficult for students and parents. However, the priority “is making sure the quality of education does not diminish,” Deal said, adding he wished there were other ways.

Nonetheless, Watkins said the trustees must ensure the students and prospective students that access to the university will remain. By making such a commitment, he said, students will be able to plan ahead.

Though seeing the increase as a last-case scenario, Watkins said the trustees need to let parents, guardians and students know that inflation is forthcoming. Deal said such a commitment is not possible, as the trustees cannot determine what the state’s actions will be in terms of funding.

Watkins suggested fundraising efforts, and said the trustees must ask how many students ASU would potentially have if the university could assure them that fundraising is underway to prevent tuition hikes. Fox said the university cannot raise funds to directly subsidize the cost of tuition, but that it can do so for scholarships, which it already does.

“The quality of the education here is absolutely first class,” Fox said. “After this increase, there will be 10 universities in the system that cost more than Appalachian.”

Watkins stuck to his point, and asked the board to consider sitting down in a special committee to examine trends in enrollment and tuition.

“I feel like it’s very, very important for us to say as an Appalachian family…that the burden will not always go to the students,” he said.

Deal told Watkins how, as a trustee, he’d voted twice against a tuition increase on previous occasions because he wasn’t certain as to how the money would be spent. Peacock addressed the trustees, and told Watkins that he respected his comments about seeking different sources of funding.

Peacock said his administration has already started down that road and provided several examples, such as the acquisition of $1.3 million in equity funding from the General Assembly, a $1 million federal earmark to support the university’s viticulture program, and $1.1 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Defense.

“But it’s still not enough,” Peacock said, adding the decision to increase tuition is not fun for him or the administration, but that he simply doesn’t see any other way to maintain a high quality of programming.

Trustee James Branch said there is an opportunity during the next capital campaign several years from now to prioritize alternate means, such as building relationships with a consortium of banks for low-interest loans.

Corwyn Sergent, a senior English major, spoke from the audience and said, from experience, that Appalachian can change people for the better, and that the trustees have the influence to make this happen, while he has none.

He said that funding needs to come from somewhere and that alternate means of funding have probably been explored at length. He asked the trustees that they, in the future, show more fortitude by standing up to the state legislature and saying that priorities need to be shifted.

After Sergent delivered his comments, the trustees voted in approval of the increase, with Watkins casting the sole dissenting vote.

• Frank Ruggiero may be contacted

at ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com.