The University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees will vote Friday on a fee increase of $1,500 for in-state undergraduate students for the 2009-2010 academic year.
Depending on the amount of federal aid the University receives in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, some or all of the fee increase could return to students in the form of a rebate.
Unsure of exactly how much money the University will receive, the Board of Trustees Committee on Administration and Finance approved the fee increase last week, which would raise $50 million in new revenue from students. Before the increase becomes official, a majority of the full Board will need to approve it on Friday.
Robert Connolly, associate vice president for University Relations and Communications, said that when the university receives funds from the stimulus bill, it would disperse rebates equally among in-state students, effectively reducing the amount of the increase or possibly negating it entirely.
As Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration determines just how much money can be set aside for UMass, university administrators are feeing pressure to act now in order to bridge the financial gap.
UMass currently stands to lose $102 million in funding from the state for the next fiscal year, a result of the current global economic crisis. The possible $50 million injection from a fee increase would cut that loss in half, with the remainder coming from reductions in spending. Under the state fiscal stabilization fund outlined in the stimulus bill, funds allocated for institutions of higher education should ‘mitigate the need to raise tuition and fees for in-state students.’
‘ ‘It’s terrible, and it’s unnecessary,’ said Ferd Wulkan, coordinator for the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts (PHENOM). ‘They should simply wait until it is crystal clear what the University will be getting from the federal stimulus money.’
Wulkan indicated that waiting as little as a week could bring into focus just how much federal funding UMass will receive, and possibly eliminate the need for any fee increase.
The university has also enacted a freeze on salaries over $120,000 and Chancellor Robert C. Holub’s task force on reorganization continues to pursue alternatives, including the possibility of creating a
If the fee increase passes, it will largely fall upon the Budget Task Force to close the remainder of the budgetary gap on the
‘We are trying to chart a path for the future, mindful of a very serious economic crisis but also aware that we want to be positioned to come out of the crisis with our capacity for excellence in research and teaching not only intact but ready to take on and lead in finding solutions to the challenges that lie ahead,’ task force chairwoman Jane Fountain said in a statement.
Since Jack M. Wilson became president in 2003, the university system has maintained a policy of restraining student fee increases to levels at or below the rate of inflation. Revenue from fees stays within the university, while tuition payments go directly to the state.
In a press release dated Feb. 20, President Wilson emphasized the university’s ‘obligation to protect quality, access and affordability,’ even during tough economic times like this.
Fee increases may help to protect the university’s quality by keeping professors employed rather than making cuts in faculty and staff, but it runs the risk of scaring off applicants who look to UMass as a more affordable alternative.
Many campus organizations have mounted initiatives to speak out against the fee increase.
On Monday, a group of graduate students set out on a four-day, 107-mile walk to
PHENOM is organizing a call-in day for Thursday, Feb. 26 to express to Gov. Patrick a need to allocate properly the federal stimulus funds outlined for institutions like UMass.
Adam McGillen can be reached at amcgille@student.umass.edu.
