Curators discuss out-of-state tuition increase
The board also saw results of the UM system employee benefits survey.
Published April 16, 2010
The UM system Board of Curators met Thursday at Missouri University of Science and Technology for the final time this academic year to set tuition and discuss other issues facing the university.
In the meetings, the curators, who serve as the executive board for the UM system, received proposals for increases to out-of-state and graduate tuition for all four campuses in the 2010-2011 school year. The board will cast votes Friday.
If the curators approve the proposals from UM administration, MU and Missouri S&T would see a 5 percent hike in tuition. UM-Kansas City and UM-St. Louis out-of-state student tuition would rise 2.7 percent, according to a summary of the proposal in the curator's agenda.
Nikki Krawitz, UM system vice president for Finance and Administration, said this increase is driven by out-of-state demand for MU and Missouri S&T programs.
"We made a decision last year to allow the campuses to decouple tuition, so that they could set tuition taking into consideration the markets from which they draw students and the competition," Krawitz said. "MU and Missouri S&T believe that the out-of-state demand for the programs that they offer and that the tuition for comparator institutions supports the 5 percent increase."
In addition to these increases, the Board of Curators Finance Committee summary proposed graduate school tuition rates at all four campuses increase by 2.7 percent, as well as an increase in professional school tuition, recommended to increase at varying levels based on market analysis at each school.
A financial committee summary on percentage and dollar increases for tuition and enrollment at MU recommended increases in enrollment fees across campuses, such as increases in engineering and graduate course fees, as well as new nursing course and School of Medicine laboratory and resource fees.
In keeping with an agreement made between Gov. Jay Nixon and Missouri four-year public universities, Missouri in-state undergraduate tuition remains unchanged in the proposal. Under the agreement made last year, tuition would remain the same for in-state undergraduate students if higher education funding were not cut by more than $50 million.
On Wednesday, the full Senate chose to change the ruling of the Senate Appropriations Committee restoring almost $15 million in higher education funding, keeping the tuition freeze in place.
Betsy Rodriguez, UM system vice president of Human Resources, presented the results of the employee benefits survey to the curators. The presentation on the survey included results on same-sex domestic partner benefits.
MU Faculty Council Chairwoman Leona Rubin said the results were scattered.
"The survey showed very polarized results with 34 percent strongly in favor and 34 percent strongly opposed," Rubin said. "The remaining few were in the middle and slightly favored the benefits."
Rubin said approximately 1,200 of 7,000 employees did not answer the question, and, by campus, employees at UMKC and UMSL were more strongly in favor of benefits for same-sex partners, but Missouri S&T employees were more opposed. MU fell somewhere in the middle.
"I don't have the exact numbers by group, but faculty were more strongly in favor than were staff," Rubin said.
The board will conclude its two-day meeting around noon Friday.