By Chris Brown
University of Louisville students can most likely expect an increase in tuition and other fees for the 2005-2006 fiscal year. However, just how much students will pay in the coming year is still unclear, said Susan Ingram, director of Budget and Financial Planning for U of L. “We are very early in the tuition-setting process,” she said last week.
Ingram attributes the anticipated hike in tuition to a general increase in the funds required to operate the growing institution. “Rising costs and increased expenses at the university must be covered through additional revenue,” she said.
Since U of L relies primarily on state appropriations and tuition fees to cover the costs, changes in the amount of money state lawmakers funnel into U of L will affect student costs for the coming academic year.
“Since there is a great deal of uncertainty on whether the university’s state appropriation will change,” Ingram said, “tuition and fees will most likely increase to cover some portion of the additional costs.”
Additionally, students living in on-campus housing facilities will have to dig a little deeper to cover room and board for the 2005-06 semesters. U of L vice president for Student Affairs Dr. Denise Gifford said housing costs are expected to rise three to eight percent, depending on the residence hall facility.
“Utility costs are going up substantially,” explained Gifford. Since housing fees help cover services like electricity, water, cable television, local telephone and high-speed Internet access, increases in the costs of any of those mean increases in operating costs for housing facilities.
Gifford also said that increased housing fees will help boost staffing in the university’s housing facilities. “New positions are being added,” she said, possibly including more desk assistants to help bolster dormitory security and student safety.
But while the expected increases in tuition costs and other fees mean students will again be paying more for their education, the rise in rates is not atypical of past years. Since the 2001-02 fiscal year for example, U of L tuition costs per semester for full-time undergraduate and graduate resident and non-resident students have risen, on average, about 10 percent annually. According to the College Board’s Web site, this is consistent with the 9.5-14.1 percent annual semester tuition increases at most public four-year institutions around the nation.
Tuition costs per semester for the Brandeis School of Law have shown similar trends, increasing by an average of about five to 10 percent annually since the 2001-2002 fiscal year.
U of L medical and dental school students have also seen tuition hikes in recent years, however the increases have not followed patterns similar to those of other colleges within the university. Students in both schools saw an approximate 115-percent increase for the 2002-2003 school year when tuition more than doubled. However, the two fiscal years following the 2002-2003 year brought average increases of only about eight to 11 percent.
If current trends continue, Louisville Cardinalprojections (based on average increases since the 2001-2002 fiscal year) estimate undergraduate resident students may expect to pay about $2,770 per semester, while non-residents may see tuition costs of around $7,530 per semester. Graduate students may expect similar increases, with residents paying around $3,000 per semester and non-residents around $8,260.
Law school students may see semester tuition rates around $5,070 for residents and $10,950 for non-residents.
Resident dental school students may have to pay about $15,710 per semester, while non-residents may pay about $38,610 per semester.
U of L medical school students may also feel the increases, with tuition costs next fiscal year of about $18,250 for residents and $41,910 for non-residents.
Despite the increased costs students may incur, U of L still boasts some of the lowest tuition rates among other comparable universities in the U.S. Information published on the university’s Web site compares tuition rates for resident undergraduate and graduate students for fiscal years 1995-1999. The study reports that resident students have been paying on average about $1,123 less than resident students at schools like UAB, the University of Illinois-Chicago, the University of Cincinnati and the University of Pittsburgh.
Similarly, the information shows resident graduate students saved an average of $1,580 in tuition and fees per semester from fiscal years 1995-1999, compared to what they would have paid to attend some of the other schools named in the study.
Official tuition rates and fees for the 2005-2006 fiscal year are expected to be announced later in the semester.
