AU tuition hike inevitable

Students and non-academic programs at Auburn University will be the hardest hit as the institution prepares to collect less money from the state this fall, according to AU leaders.

The administration announced Thursday that it will recommend a 12 percent hike in tuition to the Board of Trustees when it meets June 26 and 27 to help compensate for a shortfall of approximately $43 million to the AU System, which includes AU, Auburn Montgomery, Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station and Alabama Cooperative Extension System.

The debate among trustees will also include proposed budgetary cuts in non-academic areas, academic support and academics. Brian Keeter, AU’s director of public affairs, said academic instruction will be the least affected by any potential reductions.

According to the Associated Press, Dr. Malcolm Portera, chancellor of the University of Alabama System, told the Rotary Club of Birmingham Wednesday that his system has to cut about 300 jobs and cancel construction projects to make up for a shortfall between $75 million and $80 million.

Keeter said Auburn hasn’t discussed any personnel cuts like that.

This was good news to AU sophomores Jeremy Rice and Bailey Taylor. Neither one of them were happy with the reality of paying so much more come fall, but they understood why it is necessary in these tough economic times.

“It’s the best option,” said Taylor. “What else are you going to do?”

“Compared to cutting programs, I can understand,” added Rice.

On the other hand, junior Chase O’Mary questioned if a tuition hike was the best option for Auburn and if it would be better to cut non-essential personnel. The mechanical engineering major is fortunate, his parents pay for the majority of his college costs, but not all Auburn students are as lucky, and a tuition hike could hurt those students.

“I could have gone to Alabama and not paid a dime, but I choose to come here,” O’Mary said. “An increase kind of justifies the quality of education you receive, but how high is it going to get? If I’m not mistaken, there has been a tuition increase every year I’ve been here.”

Since the Alabama Legislature passed a state education budget Saturday that reduces appropriations to K-12, two-year colleges and universities by nearly $370 million less than this year, schools across the state have been trying to figure out how to recover the loss of revenue.

Trustees at the University of West Alabama agreed Monday to increase its tuition by 12 percent to compensate for a $1.6 million reduction in state appropriations.

Portera said the UA system could also increase tuition, as well as out-of-state enrollment in Tuscaloosa and private fundraising efforts to help with the shortfall.

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