By Laura Rodell
There may be some relief in the near future for college students and their parents who are scrambling to pay increasing tuition fees.
Congress is acutely aware of higher education issues this year, since the Higher Education Act (HEA), the umbrella act for federal higher education laws, expires in fall 2005. With Congressional review and renewal of HEA to occur this year, the U.S. House of Representatives Web site highlights proposed legislation due to arrive on the Congressional floor.
One of the proposals, the College Affordability and Accountability Act, would make it more difficult for state governments to cut their higher education funding. It would also offer financial incentives to colleges and universities with the most reasonable tuitions. The proposed College Opportunity for All Act would raise maximum Pell Grant awards and provide low-cost loans by enabling students to re-finance loans, as well as provide more federal funds for institutions with high percentages of low-income, minority and first-generation students.
“It’s about building a workforce that keeps America competitive for generations to come; and it’s about smarter, better government,” Congressman George Miller (D-CA), said. “Those are goals that every American can support,”
According to statistics released by CollegeBoard in October 2004, there was a smaller increase in tuition costs this academic year (2004-05) compared with last (2003-04), which could indicate that higher education costs are slowing their climb.
This year’s average tuition costs have risen by 6 percent for private institutions, 10.5 percent for four-year public institutions and 8.7 percent for two-year public institutions, according to a 2004 CollegBoard press release. Even though these increases are among the largest in a decade, they are less steep than the 2003-2004 academic year, when tuition for four-year public institutions rose a record 13 percent. CollegeBoard employees view this as a potentially positive sign that next year’s average increases may also be shy of last year’s hike.
The University’s annual tuition hikes fall within the national average for private institutions and Melissa Connolly, assistant vice president for University Relations, said its sticker-price tuition remains “on the bottom pricing rung of Long Island and New York City-metro universities offering a comparable education.”
Connolly said current tuition for full-time undergraduates, excluding room and board, is $19,010 and the aforementioned prediction of moderate increases for the foreseeable future has yet to be tested, as the University’s Board of Trustees decision on 2005-06 tuition rates is pending.
University students see great merit in keeping tuition low and hikes moderate, advocating a responsible fiscal policy that enables students to receive a quality education without plunging into debt.
“Low tuition is everyone’s preference and tuition raises can be avoided by following a coherent monetary policy and having a budget that makes sense,” Josh Lanier, sophomore philosophy major, said. “The school could save students’ money by distinguishing between those items that are important and deserve a share of the budget and those that are not.”
Connolly, however, said inflation rates generally have little influence on the types of expenses of colleges and universities. Inflation rates are measured according to prices of goods and services typically consumed by U.S. households, such as a basket of supermarket products. Colleges, however, spend little on these commodities and much more on employee health and life insurance, utilities and technology, institutional costs that inflation does not take into much consideration.
Healthcare costs, which have risen by double-digit increments over the past several years, are a major factor in tuition increases because health insurance increases at a rate proportional to healthcare costs. Higher institutional insurance costs, such as Workman’s Compensation and General Liability, have also soared to extraordinary heights after 9/11.
“These are expenses that do not affect the average family, yet are of great consequence to educational institutions and therefore, influence tuition rates to a greater degree that inflation alone indicates,” Connolly said.
Rising utility costs, which have almost doubled in the past two to three years due to the climbing price of oil, are another cited culprit. Increased oil prices are felt by all at the pump. The University heats over 100 buildings on its 240-acre campus during winter months, with dormitories alone requiring 24-hour heating.
“Rises in utility costs have a disproportionately great affect on an institution, such as Hofstra, that must maintain and keep operational buildings over such a great expanse,” Connolly said.
Technology fees are cited as yet another exacerbator of tuition costs, especially as the University strives to remain among the “America’s most connected universities” as rated by Princeton Review.
“Fifteen years ago the idea was that buying a computer was a 20 to 30 year investment; we now realize that computers should be replaced every two to three years and that replacement cycle must factor into tuition costs,” Connolly said.
In the face of these rising costs, Connolly attributes the University’s steadily moderate tuition increases in part to “a healthy gross endowment and a president striving to maximize the resources available to each student.”
“It’s important for Hofstra to keep tuition low if they want to keep a diverse campus with students of differing economic groups,” sophomore Kathleen Hunker said. “Low tuition is also an important factor in attracting to Hofstra Long Islanders who would have otherwise left for Ivy League schools.”