Trustees table fee increase |
Daniel Toberman |
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A plan to hike tuition, fees and housing by as much as $433 for most SIUE students will come before the SIU board of trustees at the May 10 meeting. The trustees, who welcomed two new members at their meeting Thursday in Carbondale, took no action on the hike proposal. Meanwhile, student trustee Jason Holzum asked fellow board members to consider a petition asking that an $8.60 athletic fee hike, included in the package, be put to a referendum. Again, the board took no action Thursday but is expected to vote on the request next month. "The petition was brought up as a discussionary item," Holzum said. "But there will be more discussion before the vote at the next meeting." The tuition hike for all campuses would take effect fall 2002 if approved by the board. The tuition rates at the Edwardsville and Carbondale campuses are below those of comparable Illinois universities, and the board wants to keep SIU affordable, according to an SIU spokesman. However, President James Walker said he feels the increases are necessary to ensure quality education. "Being at the bottom doesn't allow us to have the things for the best education," Walker said. "We think that there is a very good place for us in the middle in terms of tuition and fees." Under the plan, tuition for an SIUE student taking 15 hours would rise $276 per academic year. Fees would increase $21.50 and housing $136 for a total $8,302, an increase of 5.5 percent over this year. The fee hikes include the one passed by the SIUE student senate but challenged by a student petition. The tuition for graduate, law, medicine and dental students would also increase, rising 5 percent, 5.1 percent, 5 percent and 9.3 percent respectively. | |