Michigan State University president, Lou Anna K. Simon, delivers her State of the University address on Feb. 11, 2014 at Wharton Center for Performing Arts. Afterwards, faculty awards were given out. Betsy Agosta/The State News
Despite years of funding cuts and difficult budgetary decisions, President Lou Anna K. Simon said she’s confident MSU’s situation isn’t going anywhere but up.
During her annual State of the University speech, Simon addressed several accomplishments MSU made throughout the last year, including the football team’s monumental Rose Bowl win.
But she didn’t hesitate to address one of the biggest issues currently facing students — a series of tuition increases approved by the Board of Trustees that university officials blame on decreased appropriations from the state.
“We’ve been through one of the worst times in our history,” Simon said during her speech. “We know that tuition is too high. And we’ve tried to solve part of that … by being very aggressive with financial aid.”
Simon addressed the prospect of increased state funding to universities included in Gov. Rick Snyder’s most recent budget recommendation. Under Snyder’s plan, MSU would receive a 6.1 percent increase in funding in the next fiscal year.
In June 2013, the Board of Trustees raised tuition rates by an average of 2.8 percent for the 2013-14 academic school year after receiving a 1.8 percent increase in aid from the state, a tuition increase that was less than expected by board members.
The increase has freshmen and sophomores paying $8 more per credit hour than the previous year and juniors and seniors paying $16.50 more.
That tuition increase came on top of a 3.5 percent tuition hike approved for the 2012-2013 academic year.
Simon did not indicate whether she thought another increase in tuition costs was on the horizon, but noted the language in Snyder’s proposal capping any tuition increases at 3.2 percent to be eligible for the funding increase would force MSU to think about their spending more to bring better value to students.
In order to do that, MSU would need focus on results, not rhetoric, Simon remarked.
“(We have) to accelerate actions and respond quickly to change,” Simon said.
Some students weren’t convinced the university would help struggling students.
History education senior Noah Saperstein protested outside of Wharton Center with Students United, a student union formed in the fall of 2013 advocating for students’ rights.
“This is our university,” Saperstein said. “All the money that comes from tuition comes from us. And that’s all the university sees us as — walking tuition dollars.”
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