U. raises undergrad tuition, fees 6.9 percent

Administrators announced plans to raise undergraduate tuition and fees by 6.9 percent for the upcoming school year yesterday, ending a four-year trend of lowering the rates of increase. This year's increase, which is slightly higher than last year's 6.7 percent rise, will raise the annual cost of an undergraduate education $1,028 to $15,918. President Sheldon Hackney, who announced the proposed rate yesterday, will present the plan to the Board of University Trustees Friday. The Trustees Executive Board must give final approval on the increase, but administrators said the board normally approves the proposed rate. Despite the University's recent budget problems, the 6.9 percent increase is the second-lowest percentage rise in the last 15 years. Last year's 6.7 percent increase was the lowest in that time period. Graduate students' tuition and fees will rise 7.1 percent this year, also slightly higher than last year's increase. Graduate students will pay $16,604 next academic year, including a $6 surcharge for graduate activities approved last year by the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly. Administrators said yesterday that Governor Robert Casey's plan to slash $18.6 million from the University's state funding was a major reason for the rate's rise. This figure represents nearly half of the amount the University receives annually from the state. Hackney said yesterday the University had planned on a 6.7 percent increase until Casey announced his cuts. The added increase will only be a drop in the bucket compared to the loss in funding the University is facing. Hackney said the additional .2 percent increase will produce only an additional $700,000 in revenue for the University. "6.9 percent does not contribute a lot of money to the solution of the problem," Hackney said. "I think it is fair to ask [students] to bear a small burden of the cost." To make up the rest, Hackney presented students and faculty members with a five-point plan, including major expenditure cuts across the University. He said the relatively low hike in tuition and fees indicates administrators' decision to not make students bear the brunt of the University's financial problems. But Undergraduate Assembly Tuition Chairperson Mitchell Winston said he was "devastated" by the president's announcement, adding that his committee will continue attempts to lower the rate of increase until the Trustees vote on Friday. "President Hackney said students should share the burden," Winston said. "We are, through the decrease in services. We've been sharing the burden all along." Winston, who appealed to the Trustees in January to keep the rate of increase down, said he plans to speak to the board again on Friday. He said he will present the Trustees with a 4,000-signature undergraduate petition, calling for lower tuition and fees next year. "If the administration was told by the Trustees to abide by their commitment, then they wouldn't have [increased the rate]," Winston said. "They felt they could get away with it, so they did." Winston criticized administrators for "not honoring commitments made to students" to continue lowering the rate of increase in tuition and fees. He said since Hackney will ask the Trustees to approve a $6 million budget deficit Friday, administrators should be able to spread the $700,000 throughout the University. Hackney also said yesterday the rate of increase for the student financial aid budget will be reduced for the 1992-93 academic year to cushion the effects of Casey's proposal. He said the University will be able to maintain its policy of need-blind admissions next year, but said the policy will face greater hardships in the future.

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