MSU is providing less financial assistance to some students than the statewide average, according to data obtained from the university and a report issued last week by the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan.
The council’s report said, on average, Michigan universities covered about 50.5 percent of a student’s tuition costs, not including room and board, in 2010.
MSU, on the other hand, covered about 42 percent of a student’s tuition during the 2009-10 school year, Val Meyers, MSU’s associate director of the Office of Financial Aid, said in an email.
Still, Mike Boulous, executive director of the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan, said universities provide adequate financial assistance to students.
“Given the magnitude of the actual cuts, the cost of tuition is much less than the sticker price,” he said. “Universities continue to fill in more and more of the gap.”
According to the group’s report, tuition at a state university cost about $4,787 in 2010 when including financial aid from state schools. The listed statewide average tuition was $9,661.
MSU’s 2009-10 tuition was $10,880, and MSU’s average financial aid gift was about $4,556 per student. Including the average gift, it cost a student about $6,324 to attend the university last year.
Health communication senior Lindsey Adrian, an out-of-state student, said although obtaining financial aid is easy, finding other scholarships through the university is difficult.
“I feel (scholarships are) aimed (at) people from Michigan,” she said.
According to the MSU Office of Planning and Budgets’ website, total student assistance tops $580 million each year.
More than 29,000 undergraduates received some type of financial aid in 2009-10, according to the website.
The Presidents Council’s study shows need-based aid for students increased from 2007 to 2010, while merit-based aid decreased during the same time period.
Under Gov. Rick Snyder’s 2011-12 budget, state universities lost about $213.1 million in higher education funding for this academic year. MSU has dealt with a 15 percent funding cut from the state for this year, a loss of about $42.6 million.
In response, MSU raised tuition about 6.9 percent over last fall’s rate, a move that has drawn criticism from some students.
“I think (tuition rates) are too high,” said human biology junior Andrea Watt. “I had a friend who had to drop out because she couldn’t get financial aid.”
According to the council’s report, tuition makes up about 75 percent of education revenue.
MSU previously had planned for a 13 percent reduction in funding from the state for the 2011-12 academic year.
During this past decade, the school has reduced operating expenses by more than $120 million and put moratoria on or eliminated more than 40 academic programs to deal with funding cuts, according to MSU budget documents.
MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon called the cuts “brutal” at the Board of Trustees’ June meeting.
“Having had that reality check, we’re prepared to put our creative efforts … behind making (MSU) better tomorrow than it is today,” she said.
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