At least one MSU trustee is saying the tuition guarantee, which was instituted by President M. Peter McPherson in 1994, will likely be suspended today.
Robert Weiss said when the Board of Trustees meets at 9 a.m. today, the guarantee, which has kept tuition hikes at or below the projected rate of inflation for seven years, will be no longer.
“It is only being suspended because we are not getting enough revenue from the Legislature and they have not closed the gap,” he said, referring to the funding gap that currently exists between the University of Michigan, Wayne State University and MSU. “They violated their part of the agreement.”
The innovative guarantee has kept MSU tuition increases minimal compared to other universities and schools throughout Michigan.
While tuition at MSU has risen an average of 2.8 percent since 1994, other four-year public institutions have risen 4.6 percent and Big Ten universities have raised tuition 5.2 percent.
An amendment to the guarantee last year made it contingent upon adequate support from the state Legislature. But state funding won’t likely increase much under next year’s budget because of economic downturns. This has forced MSU to tighten its belt.
“This is very painful for the board,” Trustee Dee Cook said Thursday. “We are going to do everything in our power to handle this for the students and families.”
Still, Cook said students could see a tuition hike of as much as 9 or 10 percent in the near future. That’s quite a boost, considering the largest tuition hike in the past seven years has been less than 5 percent.
The state Legislature could allocate more money to state universities if the tuition tax credit is eliminated. But even if that’s done away with, the guarantee is still likely in severe jeopardy.
And Weiss supports the tuition tax credit.
“That is a huge impact on a middle-class family,” he said. “I think they are making a huge investment to this country and I think they ought to be able to deduct that like a company would if they bought a new piece of machinery for its plant.”
State Rep. Gretchen Whitmer, the East Lansing Democrat whose district includes MSU, said Thursday she believes it is an unfortunate situation for students and their families to be paying more tuition money.
But, she said with the economy shaping up as it is, the state can do little to solve the dilemma.
Whitmer served on the House committee that recommended MSU receive a 7 percent funding increase - that didn’t fly with the Senate or the governor. A 1993 MSU graduate and 1998 MSU-Detroit College of Law graduate, she said the suspension was just a matter of time.
“We’ve made great strides,” she said. “However, in a year with an economic forecast like we’ve got, it appears that these strides aren’t going to be implemented.”
Most MSU trustees are hoping the tuition guarantee will only be suspended temporarily.
“I would hope it will only be for one year and maybe next year the state will come back and we will be able to reactivate it,” Trustee Don Nugent said.
Meanwhile, the loss of the guarantee will certainly affect students and their families.
Yet some seem understanding.
Electrical engineering sophomore Ryan Kelley said as long as tuition is competitive with other universities, he thinks it’s OK.
“As long as MSU needs to raise rates to keep the buildings in good shape and the teachers paid well, it is all right,” he said.
Political science junior Pat O’Reilly said he doesn’t have a problem with the suspension.
“McPherson made the guarantee in ’94, and he kept his promise,” he said. “Now he has to break the promise because the Legislature has not given MSU any more money. I think an increase is justified.”
State News staff writers Shannon Murphy and Tony Paul contributed to this report.
Shaun Byron can be reached at byronsha@msu.edu.
