By Daniel Johnson-Kim, Editor in Chief
Students returning to ACU may have been surprised by several changes to their bill this semester.
A 7 percent tuition increase approved by the Board of Trustees during the 2007-08 school year went into effect for 2008-09, and several other required fees were increased.
The amount charged per semester hour increased from $557 to $596, the Technology and Academic Enrichment fee jumped from $215 to $300, the Health Services fee rose from $55 to $70, and a new $75 Public Safety fee was applied to the list of things students are required to pay each semester.
Phil Schubert, executive vice president, said rising energy costs, faculty raises, increased costs to provide benefits to employees and other costs to run the university all factor into the Board’s decision to raise tuition.
“All those things figure in to cost increases and end up ultimately pushing a tuition increase,” Schubert said.
Although a $39 tuition increase may not seem like much to some returning students, the rise in tuition is far greater for upperclassmen who have been at the university four or more years.
The Board of Trustees has consistently raised tuition 7 percent the last four years, and students who paid $487 per semester hour as freshmen in 2005 are now paying $109 more in 2008.
But when compared to other niversities in the U.S. News & World Report’s yearly publication “America’s Best Colleges,” Schubert said ACU is still a great deal.
ACU recently tied with Chapman University (Calif.) as the No. 1 “Up-and-Coming School” in the USNWR’s western region and was ranked 12th in the Tier 1 Private Institutions Western Region’s “Great Schools,Great Prices” rankings.
Although ACU is ranked in the top tier for its quality by the USNWR, it remains one of the least costly schools in its region. Schubert said the rankings recognize the university’s commitment to maintain the quality of an ACU education.
And to continue that quality, Schubert said faculty and staff must receive raises and benefits. “We want to be sure we have competitive salaries for our faculty and staff to promote the kind of environment [students] deserve,” Schubert said.
Dr. Jean-Noel Thompson said the Health and Services fee increase was put in place to increase the level of service students receive at the clinic, so they do not have to wait in line to receive treatment.
Thompson said with the new fee amount in place, the office of Student Life is able to bring in a full-time nursing practitioner and
add to the services provided to students.
“It will increase effectiveness of serving students faster and more comprehensively,” Thompson said.
Jimmy Ellison, chief of ACU Police department and director of Public Safety,aid the Public Safety fee was part of a restructuring of the fee system.
“In the past, only those students who purchased parking permits were actually paying anything into the safety infrastructure, yet all students were getting the benefit of the public safety,” Ellison said.
The fee decreased the amount students pay for parking permits, and Ellison said the money collected is used to maintain the “high quality” police department that helps protect the university and the community surrounding it.
“We’re not taking the money just to pay our salaries.,” Ellison said. “We’re taking that fee and trying to use good strategies to figure out ways to implement things that are going to affect everyone and make everyone safer.”
