By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
With the conference committee wrapping up work on the Ohio budget, it appears that undergraduate tuition will not increase at Bowling Green State University in the fall.
At its June meeting the BGSU Board of Trustees voted to raise tuition by 2 percent for undergraduate in-state tuition and general fees. The 2.5-percent increase for graduate students will still take effect. That vote was taken pending the resolution of a new state budget.
Now with the budget just about ready for Gov. John Kasich’s signature, BGSU president Mary Ellen Mazey said the tuition increase will not be allowed at least for this year.
The tuition hike would have generated $2.4 million in additional revenue.
Nor will the university receive more state aid.
“You never know what will happen, that’s certainly what it looks like coming out of the conference committee.” This is a case where the House version prevailed despite, she said, the efforts of State Sen. Randy Gardner (R-Bowing Green) who “worked very diligently” to try to get more favorable funding for universities.
Mazey said that tuition increases would be allowed next year, but only if a university adopts the Ohio Guarantee program. Through that program schools promise that students’ tuition will remain the same throughout their four years.
If BGSU adopts the tuition guarantee it would be allowed to raise tuition as much as 8 percent for incoming students in fall, 2018. However, Mazey said, that could be reduced to 6 percent by the governor.
Mazey said while the budget is not good news, it could have been worse. Other agencies are taking a 5-percent hit, according to her conversations with Bruce Johnson, president of the Inter-University Council.
Given a $1 billion shortfall, rising Medicaid cost, and the worsening opioid crisis, everyone is being affected, Mazey said.
“It’s not good, but it could have been worse,” she said.
While the budget won’t be final until Kasich signs it – expected on Friday, Mazey said: “I can’t imagine any of this is going to change.”
The governor in his budget proposal had also called for a tuition freeze.
The increased fee for career services passed by the trustees as well as fees designated for specific programs and courses passed earlier in the year will still go into effect.
The budget calls for increases in the Ohio Opportunity Grant Program that provides financial aid to students in need.
Also, it includes language calling on university trustees to approve plans to control textbook costs. Mazey said this was not a great concern for BGSU because the university library has done a great deal to help keep cost to students down; more faculty are using open source materials; and students are vigilant about finding ways to reduce their expenses.
“I think we’ll be OK,” Mazey said. “Certainly our budget has been better than our sister institutions. We have to watch it very carefully.”
She added: “It’s very important to have strong freshman class, this fall” and then be able to hold on to those students until they graduate.
Creating and bolstering programs such as aviation, forensic and business analytics “has been every beneficial.”
“We need to continue to look at new programs that are in demand in the workforce,” she said, “and at the same time looking at how we can be more efficient.”
