Tuition Increase

An article in The Daily Advocate, also in an email from Mr. Kramer, states the tuition increase of 3.5% ($4) per semester credit hour. This increase will start fall semester. The current figures for fall semester enrollment are not available at this time, but let's put this into dollar amounts with the stated figures. Summer enrollment was approximately 7,400 credit hours. If the tuition increase were active for the summer courses, it would have produced nearly $30,000 in additional revenue. Money, despite the amount, coming into the system is still money entering the system.

Let's examine some side issues:
  • Students for fall who have already registered and paid will need to be re-billed. This not only takes physical supplies, but manpower time as well. What is the income increase for fall once this has been done? (The EJ is aware this is a one time scenario, but would like to think it was taken into consideration).
  • This is now out of the President's bag of scary maneuvers. To paraphrase, "Costs are up, subsidy is down, tuition is frozen." Tuition is no longer frozen, costs are (to say the least, in question), and subsidy values have been stated.
  • Classes go through purge cycles. These purges are often done based upon a simple yes/no as to has the student paid for the course. What's going to happen to students who have paid, but owe that $12 more because of a re-billing? Are they going to be booted from a course and potentially lose their slot in the class over $12?
  • What is this new income going to go towards in the budget? If you recall from earlier, the budget team was asked to create a worst case scenario in which the school might operate and was still $205,000 in the positive. (This didn't include any raises or bonus whatsoever). This money is essentially unbudgeted income since they team would not have accounted for a tuition increase. New Lexus anyone?

6 comments:

Brian said...

One thing left out is the deathly slow financial aid process. Students who have been awarded financial aid and submitted all necessary paper work to Edison by the May deadline are still waiting.

How many students are not going to be dropped for non-payment because we can't file paperwork in time?

Also, I think it's time to start thinking of the college budget in terms of entry level faculty and Infinity cars. For instance, Kramer's recent release about record-breaking enrollment for the summer, with an increase of 1600 credit hours yielded about $180000 additional dollars in tuition, or about 5 entry level faculty members (roughly 2.5 new Infinities). Our doomsday scenario leaves us with a 6 faculty member/3 Infinity surplus. The number sounds bigger if we convert it to fully loaded adjuncts: $180K is the equivalent of 18 adjuncts at the top of the pay scale teaching a full load.

Of course, I'm not advocating Edison spend all of it's surpluses on extravagant things like faculty members and cars, it's just a new way to think of things.

Brad Reed said...

I have been asked to post the following in response to bullet point three:

"• Classes go through purge cycles. These purges are often done based upon a simple yes/no as to has the student paid for the course. What's going to happen to students who have paid, but owe that $12 more because of a re-billing? Are they going to be booted from a course and potentially lose their slot in the class over $12?"

The purge is not based on a simple yes/no. Several factors are considered. No, students who have paid for their course(s) before the increase will not be purged.

Voice of Sanity said...

That is putting a lot of faith in an administration system that is known to fail, take the longest route possible, and not operate with the student's best interests in mind. This is the administration who releases teachers when enrollment goes up, for speaking their mind, or for criticizing management.

How many times have we seen new sections of a course opened at the last minute to no avail? Some sections have remained open until just a few days prior to the semester starting and, when they close, leave the students scrambling to make semester long adjustments. Do we really think, even taking into consideration there may be multiple factors involved in a purge, that the administration has created a differential flag for "paid up to tuition increase?" I, frankly, do not give them that much credit.

Becki Lawhorn said...

Unless things have drastically changed with the purge process in the past year since I left, I can assure you that the process of the purge is no simple matter and it is not taken lightly.

The actual process includes a manual review of EVERY student who has a large unpaid balance by members of the Business Office, Financial Aid, Admissions, Athletics, Disabilities, and the Dean's offices in the weeks, days, and moments up to the actual purging of classes from a schedule.

ANY student who has completed the process to apply for aid, but has not yet been awarded is removed from the list.

ANY student who has committed to a deferred payment plan is removed from the list.

Students are notified by postcard, email, and in many instances a phone call BEFORE the purge that there are issues with their balance and asked to make arrangements. Students who make arrangements up to the close of business on the day that the purge is scheduled are removed from the list.

Once the purge has been completed, many of the seats that became available through the purge process are filled almost immediately by paying students who were wait-listed.

Whatever the rub is with Student Development personnel or the administration at large, the assumptions and accusations made in these comments are unwarranted, unfounded, and hurtful to the people who work to ensure that you have students to teach.

It's disappointing that the situation at Edison has turned into attacking anyone who happens to on the administrative staff.

Voice of Sanity said...

While some of the phrasing in the post may not be spot-on, it seems like it may be taken as an afront against SS or the various admin who keep the students flowing. I don't think this to be the case.

It seems as though doing a tuition increase while enrollment is in stride can not avoid causing problems. This one would be called the "$12 issue." The potential simply seems to high for something to go amiss between now and fall for students.

Voice of Sanity said...

It also appears that section of things was asked in the form of a question.