ECSU students hit hardest

While the average tuition increase for commuters and residential students at the Connecticut State University System is $477 and $950, respectively, local students will shell out more.

Students at Eastern Connecticut State University will pay an extra $537 for commuters and $1,005 more for residential students.

CSU trustees Thursday voted in favor of the increase during a regular board meeting in Hartford.

Fifteen of the 17 trustees voted in favor of the increase. Trustees Peter Rosa and Kolby Williams - who is the student representative from Eastern Connecticut State University - were against the increase.

Commuters attending Eastern next year will see a 6.9 percent increase in tuition and fees bringing their tuition to from $7,813 to $8,350 annually.

Residential students at ECSU will also see increases. Come fall 2010, residential students will have a $1,005 - or 5.8 percent increase - in tuition and fees.

This will bring their tuition/room/board to $18,438 from $17,433.

Increases at Central, Southern and Western Connecticut State Universities are as follows:
• Central: commuters, 6 percent or $447; residential, 5.4 percent or $901.
• Southern: commuters, 6.2 percent or $472; residential, 5.8 percent or $986.
• Western: commuters, 6 percent or $447; residential, 5.3 percent or $903.

“The decision to raise tuition was made very reluctantly and only after other avenues were thoroughly explored and actions taken,” said Karl Krapek, chairman of the CSUS Board of Trustees.

Krapek said in a news release that he understood families are struggling financially, but the increase was to help offset expenses.

“Our priority is always to preserve the quality of our academic programs and student services,” he said. “Which is why we continue to take effective steps to reduce expenses at each of the universities.”

Eastern President Elsa Nuñez said she thought the increase was appropriate.

“Through cost savings and yesterday’s board-approved tuition adjustment, I believe we are in a position to continue providing our core educational programs to a growing student population,” she said this morning.

CSUS spokesman Bernard Kavaler said this morning that tuition increases varied from campus-to-campus because the make-up of each campus is different.

“Each university is in a slightly different situation,” he said, adding more residential students increase the costs of student support services.

Kavaler said Eastern has the highest percentage of residential students - 60 percent versus approximately 20 percent at the other three universities - and, therefore, incurs more operating costs.

System officials said the approved increases are still expected to be below the national average.

According to CSUS officials, the fiscal year 2010 national average increase for public universities was 6.5 percent. The CSUS increase was 5.4 percent the same year.

“Central, Eastern, Southern and Western provide Connecticut students with a great education and great value,” said board of trustees Vice Chairman Richard Balducci. “If not for the cost savings we achieved during the past year, given the reductions in state funds, the burden on students could have been considerably higher.”

During this fiscal year, system officials transferred $1 million in student funds to the state and were cut $750,000 in state funding.

Similar cuts are expected next year as well.

Currently, the state funds approximately 40 percent of the system’s operating expenses.

Despite officials saying the tuition increase was low, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said any increase is “deeply” disappointing.

“CSU is facing difficult fiscal challenges just like the rest of state government,” said Rell in a statement. “But, I am not convinced that university administrators have looked deep enough and hard enough for savings.”

Rell said system officials needed to be more aware of the students they serve.
“Families struggle with their monthly bills and the last thing they need is a higher tuition bill on top of that,” she said.

As students are paying more to attend the four state universities, CSU chancellor David Carter was expected to be rewarded for staying on the job this year and not taking the recent state-offered retirement incentive package in the spring.

According to the Connecticut Post, Carter, who was the former president at ECSU, received a “retention award” of $82,500 to be paid over three years, though it was not known whether trustees will follow through on the award.