College tuitions going up 7 percent

DURHAM – Tuition will go up nearly 7 percent for in-state students under the budget approved Thursday by the University System of New Hampshire board of trustees.

The board raised tuition 6.9 percent for 2007-08 at the University of New Hampshire, Plymouth State University and Keene State College; tuition at Granite State College is going up 6.7 percent.

Tuition for out-of-state students will rise 5.2 percent.

Trustees also approved an 11.3 percent increase in student financial aid.

The numbers fall in line with the university system's trend of late. Since 2000, annual increases have averaged about 6 percent in tuition and 12 percent in financial aid.

Pumping more money into financial aid while charging more for services is "a balancing act" that the board struggles with every year, said Edward MacKay, vice chancellor and treasurer.

Trustees want to provide packages to the most needy students, expanding the demographic of college graduates in the state, but they have to be careful "not to price ourselves out of the market," said MacKay.

"We continue to direct as much support as we can to assist lower income state residents with the cost of a higher education," board Chairman Andrew Lietz said in a statement.

"However, we are very concerned that the financial barrier may become too formidable for more citizens in the foreseeable future, which will have a negative effect on our citizenry and our economy."

The board on Thursday also approved a $384 million operating budget for 2007-08, a 5.1 percent hike, and voted in favor of establishing a doctorate of education degree program at PSU.

The budget includes a 4.1 percent state appropriation increase, to $96 million.

"We appreciated all of the support we received during this legislative session and recognize the financial pressures that exist in New Hampshire in terms of allocating state support," said Lietz.

The university system got about $10 million less from the Legislature than it requested. A fully funded request would have knocked about 2 percent off the tuition hikes, said MacKay.

He said the USNH continues to battle cost increases that far outstrip inflation and are difficult, at best, to control.

Since fiscal year 2000, energy costs have increased an average of 9.8 percent, medical benefits are up an average of 11.3 percent and building repair costs have gone up an average of 8.9 percent.

State appropriations, meanwhile, have increased by slightly more than 2 percent a year on average.

The total cost to attend UNH next year €" counting tuition, fees, and room and board €" will top $19,000 for in-state students and $32,000 for out-of-staters. At Plymouth State and Keene State, those respective numbers will exceed $15,000 and $23,000.

"As trustees for the state's public university system, our greatest challenge is balancing the students' cost of attending our institutions with our cost of operating them efficiently and effectively," said Lietz.

MacKay said out-of-state students actually subsidize their peers by paying about $1,000 more for their education than it costs.

"Our in-state students benefit by having a significant number of out-of-state students attend," said Lietz, "and the lower percentage rate tuition increase for out-of-state students will help sustain this enrollment during the coming budget biennium."