May 9, 2005
Purdue proposes tuition, fee structure for upcoming academic years
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University officials today (Monday, May 9) announced preliminary budget figures that would increase basic student fees on the West Lafayette campus 6 percent annually over the next two academic years and add a new fee beginning in fall 2006 to generate repair and rehabilitation funds for all campuses.
The new fee structure would result in a $366 increase in the 2005-2006 year for most resident students on the West Lafayette campus.
The preliminary fee rates were issued to allow time for public input on the proposed fees. On May 19, a public hearing on the fee and tuition rates will take place in the Library Building's Assembly Hall on Purdue North Central's Westville, Ind., campus. The hearing will be held in conjunction with a meeting of the Finance Committee of the university's board of trustees. The full board of trustees is scheduled to consider the budget proposal on May 20.
The budget calls for a 6 percent tuition and required fee increase for each of the next two academic years at all Purdue campuses.
Each campus also will establish a required repair and rehabilitation fee that will only be assessed to new students enrolling in the 2006-07 academic year and after. The fees, which vary by campus, were established to address, in part, substantial repair and rehabilitation needs, said Purdue President Martin C. Jischke. Campus repair and rehabilitation fee rates in academic year 2006-07 would be: $250 at Purdue West Lafayette, $79.50 at Purdue Calumet, $73.50 at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne and $60 at Purdue North Central.
The new fee would generate nearly $7.3 million annually on the West Lafayette campus and would be one of several sources of revenue used to address both the $413 million backlog in repair and rehabilitation as well as future needs, Jischke said. Other money will come from the state, donors and reallocations of funds.
"While we appreciate everything the General Assembly has done for Purdue and higher education, the state's current financial difficulties left us with some hard choices as we build a budget to preserve our academic excellence and keep the university moving forward over the next two years," Jischke said. "With this budget, we have worked to find a way to deal with unavoidable costs, such as health benefits, utilities expenses, and a backlog of needed repairs and rehabilitation to the university's facilities and infrastructure. The repair and rehabilitation fee, in conjunction with state funding, will help us begin to cope with a deferred maintenance problem that has grown to crisis proportions."
At the West Lafayette campus, Indiana resident students enrolled since fall 2002 would pay $6,458 in the 2005-06 academic year and $6,846 the following year. Students who have been on campus since the 2001-02 school year are grandfathered into a lower tuition structure and would pay $5,300 and $5,618, respectively, over the next two academic years.
Nonresident students enrolled since fall 2002 at the West Lafayette campus would pay $19,824 in the 2005-06 academic year and $21,016 the next year. Those nonresident students who have been on campus since the 2001-02 academic year would pay $18,604 and $19,720, respectively, over the next two years.
Students in some programs, such as engineering, management, pharmacy and veterinary medicine pay additional fees.
Funds generated by the additional student fees will be used to defray a portion of increasing costs for faculty and staff salaries, student financial aid, insurance, fuel, utilities and initiatives outlined in the campuses' strategic plans. The budget proposal includes a 2 percent increase in the merit salary pool.
"This budget allows us to offer modest salary increases, but I believe we are likely to lose some competitive ground to our peer institutions," Jischke said. "It's also critical that we provide the funding to stay on course with our strategic plans. These plans are the maps that guide everything the university intends to accomplish in the classroom, in the laboratory and in being an active partner in boosting the state's economy."
Fees proposed for Indiana students enrolled as a new student before fall 2002 and after fall 2002 at other Purdue campuses are:
• Purdue Calumet – $4,527.50 and $5,081 (2005-06), and $4,799.60 and $5,386.10 (2006-07).
• Purdue North Central – $4,570.50 and $5,194.50 (2005-06), and $4,845 and $5,506.50 (2006-07).
• Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne – $5,040 and $5,629.50 (2005-06), and $5,343 and $5,967 (2006-07).
The proposed repair and rehabilitation fees for each campus, effective in the 2006-07 academic year, would be in addition to the 6 percent general tuition and fee increase.
Trustees from Indiana University set fees for Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
This is the first year the university's trustees will approve tuition and fee rates covering two academic years. Under a new legislative measure, the two-year fee and tuition rates of state colleges and universities must be made available to the public.
To facilitate scheduling, those planning to speak in person at the Purdue North Central public hearing should notify the Office of the Board of Trustees in advance at (765) 494-9710 or trustees@purdue.edu. Written comments also may be submitted via e-mail or can be sent to Office of the Board of Trustees, Hovde Hall, 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN 47907.
Each speaker will be allotted five minutes to make comments at the meeting.
Purdue's systemwide general fund budget for 2004-05 is $851.2 million. Student fees account for 53 percent of the general fund, while the remainder comes from other sources, including about 37 percent from state appropriations.
A previous hearing to gather public input took place April 22 on Purdue's West Lafayette, Ind., campus. However, no specific tuition and fee rates were available at that time because the General Assembly had yet to approve the state budget.
Source: Martin C. Jischke, (765) 494-9708
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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