Regents Approve Tuition Increases

[Cyclone711]

There are a few major questions that need to be answered in all of this...

1. Are college students getting a better education to coincide with all of the tuition hikes they face during their time in college?

2. How many students with good enough academics to get into college are not going because they can't afford the tuition?

3. As the tuition continues to grow higher and higher what plans are being made now to account for a significant drop in enrollment in the future when the cost becomes so great that a larger percentage of high school students can't afford to pay for college?

Currently the answers are...

1. The average amount of money spent per student currently is at the same level it was at in 2002. So to answer the question... students are currently spending more and getting less for their money. That is a problem.

2. I couldn't find specific numbers for this question but based on record enrollments it hasn't become a big issue yet. It isn't far off though as current grads are finishing school with a ton of debt and entering a job market that isn't exactly ripe with jobs for all of them. Who wants to go rack up a huge chunk of debt and then face the prospect of not being able to find a job?

3. At some point enrollment is going to face a sharp decline if the current price of tuition keeps rising. What will happen to these universities when that happens? State funding continues to decline and the only people who can pick up the tab are the students. A sharp decline in enrollment will be devestating. How many kids will want to attend ISU, UNI, or Iowa when it costs as much as Duke ($51,000) per year? They won't be getting a "Duke" education that is for sure but the BOR will have no choice but to either drastically cut programs offered or hike tuition to levels unheard of for public universities.

In my opinion, this is as big of an issue as the current state of the economy, gas prices, or universal health care, if not greater. Sad that it gets almost no attention besides from those who are directly affected.

Although, to to be honest, that is why those other issues mentioned above are so big. Because they affect everyone now instead of later.

 

[RayShimley]

There are a few major questions that need to be answered in all of this...

1. Are college students getting a better education to coincide with all of the tuition hikes they face during their time in college?

2. How many students with good enough academics to get into college are not going because they can't afford the tuition?

3. As the tuition continues to grow higher and higher what plans are being made now to account for a significant drop in enrollment in the future when the cost becomes so great that a larger percentage of high school students can't afford to pay for college?

Currently the answers are...

1. The average amount of money spent per student currently is at the same level it was at in 2002. So to answer the question... students are currently spending more and getting less for their money. That is a problem.

2. I couldn't find specific numbers for this question but based on record enrollments it hasn't become a big issue yet. It isn't far off though as current grads are finishing school with a ton of debt and entering a job market that isn't exactly ripe with jobs for all of them. Who wants to go rack up a huge chunk of debt and then face the prospect of not being able to find a job?

3. At some point enrollment is going to face a sharp decline if the current price of tuition keeps rising. What will happen to these universities when that happens? State funding continues to decline and the only people who can pick up the tab are the students. A sharp decline in enrollment will be devestating. How many kids will want to attend ISU, UNI, or Iowa when it costs as much as Duke ($51,000) per year? They won't be getting a "Duke" education that is for sure but the BOR will have no choice but to either drastically cut programs offered or hike tuition to levels unheard of for public universities.

1. ...and why am I spending more money per tank of gas these days, but still getting the same number of gallons??

The cost of everything has gone up, especially in the last decade, so education is no different. YES, there is a LOT of waste in public universities, but the problem is that across the board budget cuts don't properly address this waste. Some areas should probably be seeing increased funding, others should be getting 100% budget cuts (i.e., elimination), but no one has had the balls to do it that way.

2. It's a good point, but one of the major reasons behind record enrollment is actually that the job market is so bad to begin with that a lot of people are choosing to go back to school as an alternative to working. I'm not saying that's always a wise decision, but that is what is happening.

3. Enrollments will eventually decline, there is no doubt about that, but it will be long before tuition gets anywhere near private schools. What is more likely is that the Reagents will eventually be forced to streamline our three reagent universities (or maybe even eliminate one of them), by removing redundant or poorly preforming programs. This is not going to be a popular decision, but if things continue down this path it will be a necessary one.

 

[Three4Cy]

Debt is a better indicator of the true cost of education, imho, as it shows the actual price after all available aid the school makes available. ISU's aid sucks, so while we can pretend our tuition itself is in line, our actual costs are not, because other schools with similar tuition are offering more scholarships to offset it.

Seen this with my family.. my brother wouldve likely gone to ISU, but TAMU rolled out the red carpet with financial aid.

They have a 5.78 BILLION dollar endowment, they can afford to roll out the red carpet to recruit students, especially from out of state. Offering scholarships is directly related to the endowment, the more money, the more you can give. ISU has a 600 million dollar endowment. You want more money for scholarships, open up your pocketbook and donate.

Indiana University Foundation - IU's Endowment Value Ranks 13th in the Nation

University of Iowa Foundation endowment tops $1B - KWWL.com - News & Weather for Waterloo, Dubuque, Cedar Rapids & Iowa City, Iowa |

 

[Bobber]

There are a few major questions that need to be answered in all of this...

1. Are college students getting a better education to coincide with all of the tuition hikes they face during their time in college?

2. How many students with good enough academics to get into college are not going because they can't afford the tuition?

3. As the tuition continues to grow higher and higher what plans are being made now to account for a significant drop in enrollment in the future when the cost becomes so great that a larger percentage of high school students can't afford to pay for college?

Currently the answers are...

1. The average amount of money spent per student currently is at the same level it was at in 2002. So to answer the question... students are currently spending more and getting less for their money. That is a problem.

2. I couldn't find specific numbers for this question but based on record enrollments it hasn't become a big issue yet. It isn't far off though as current grads are finishing school with a ton of debt and entering a job market that isn't exactly ripe with jobs for all of them. Who wants to go rack up a huge chunk of debt and then face the prospect of not being able to find a job?

3. At some point enrollment is going to face a sharp decline if the current price of tuition keeps rising. What will happen to these universities when that happens? State funding continues to decline and the only people who can pick up the tab are the students. A sharp decline in enrollment will be devestating. How many kids will want to attend ISU, UNI, or Iowa when it costs as much as Duke ($51,000) per year? They won't be getting a "Duke" education that is for sure but the BOR will have no choice but to either drastically cut programs offered or hike tuition to levels unheard of for public universities.

I think they'll worry about shrinking enrollment if it ever happens. Fact of the matter is enrollment keeps going up in spite of tuition increases. That tells me there is still a lot of value there and people recognize that.

 

[alarson]

That tells me there is still a lot of perceived value there

ftfy.

 

[CloneAggie]

There are a few major questions that need to be answered in all of this...

1. Are college students getting a better education to coincide with all of the tuition hikes they face during their time in college?

Currently the answers are...

1. The average amount of money spent per student currently is at the same level it was at in 2002. So to answer the question... students are currently spending more and getting less for their money. That is a problem.

For FY ending June 30, 2010, operating expenses were $910.7M with Fall 2009 enrollment of 27,945. This is about $32,600 per student.

For FY ending June 30, 2002, operating expenses were $677.4M with Fall 2001 enrollment of 27,823. This is about $24,300 per student.

If we adjust for inflation, $24,300 in 2002 is equivalent to about $29,500 in 2010.

http://www.controller.iastate.edu/far/financial%20report.htm

 

[Bobber]

Looks like we're clearly in the middle of the pack from a cost standpoint.

Tuition and Fees Chart - Wisconsin 2010-2011

Purdue University - Tuition & Fees

U of I Admissions: Freshman Tuition & Fees

http://onestop.umn.edu/pdf/tuition_2010-11.p

UNL | Admissions | Estimated Tuition & Other Costs

Fees - Spring 2011 - MU Office of Cashiers

http://www.financialaid.iastate.edu/faq/costofattendance.php

 

[Three4Cy]

State schools are still a tremendous value(if you don't think so try a decent private). If you want to really save money go to a Community College for two years and then transfer in(that's what I'd do if we're doing it again).

Nobody likes this, but the fact of the matter is, you're going to cut the quality of oru schools if these things don't happen.

https://go.dmacc.edu/prospectivestudents/Pages/costcomparison.aspx

 

[tm3308]

They have a 5.78 BILLION dollar endowment, they can afford to roll out the red carpet to recruit students, especially from out of state. Offering scholarships is directly related to the endowment, the more money, the more you can give. ISU has a 600 million dollar endowment. You want more money for scholarships, open up your pocketbook and donate.

Indiana University Foundation - IU's Endowment Value Ranks 13th in the Nation

University of Iowa Foundation endowment tops $1B - KWWL.com - News & Weather for Waterloo, Dubuque, Cedar Rapids & Iowa City, Iowa |

Why they're able to roll out the red carpet is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is that they can and do. The Iowa schools don't do that, which makes the true cost of attendance much higher than the list price.

 

[Cyclonestate78]

For FY ending June 30, 2010, operating expenses were $910.7M with Fall 2009 enrollment of 27,945. This is about $32,600 per student.

For FY ending June 30, 2002, operating expenses were $677.4M with Fall 2001 enrollment of 27,823. This is about $24,300 per student.

If we adjust for inflation, $24,300 in 2002 is equivalent to about $29,500 in 2010.

Financial Report

This isn't just an ISU issue. It is a nationwide issue. This is from an article in US News and World Reports from January 2009....

• Big private universities, powered by tuition and endowment increases, have increased spending dramatically while public schools have languished. Total educational spending per student at private research universities has jumped by almost 10 percent since 2002 to more than $33,000. During that same period, public university total spending was comparatively flat and totaled less than $14,000 a year.

In essence the amount public universities are spending per student on average has leveled off while tuition continues to climb. That is eventually going to be a big problem.

 

[Bobber]

This isn't just an ISU issue. It is a nationwide issue. This is from an article in US News and World Reports from January 2009....

• Big private universities, powered by tuition and endowment increases, have increased spending dramatically while public schools have languished. Total educational spending per student at private research universities has jumped by almost 10 percent since 2002 to more than $33,000. During that same period, public university total spending was comparatively flat and totaled less than $14,000 a year.

In essence the amount public universities are spending per student on average has leveled off while tuition continues to climb. That is eventually going to be a big problem.

With tutitions like this, they should be able to spend more on students.

U.S. Students Tuition and Financial Aid - Admission | Grinnell College

University of Chicago Tuition, Costs and Financial Aid - CollegeData College Profile

Tuition & Fees - College Prep Program at Northwestern University

College Search - Duke University - Duke - Cost & Financial Aid

 

[CloneAggie]

This isn't just an ISU issue. It is a nationwide issue. This is from an article in US News and World Reports from January 2009....

• Big private universities, powered by tuition and endowment increases, have increased spending dramatically while public schools have languished. Total educational spending per student at private research universities has jumped by almost 10 percent since 2002 to more than $33,000. During that same period, public university total spending was comparatively flat and totaled less than $14,000 a year.

In essence the amount public universities are spending per student on average has leveled off while tuition continues to climb. That is eventually going to be a big problem.

From 2003 to 2008, public research institutions' educational spending increased 9.8%, while private research institutions' educational spending increased 11.8%.
http://www.deltacostproject.org/resources/pdf/Trends-in-College-Spending-98-08.pdf