The university’s board of trustees on Friday approved a freeze on tuition and mandatory fees at $10,037 for in-state Columbus campus undergraduates for the 2013-2014 school year. Tuition and mandatory fees for in-state regional campuses undergraduates also will remain flat at $7,140.

The non-resident surcharge for undergraduates will increase by 2 percent to $15,720.

Tuition and mandatory fees for graduate students will increase 1.8 percent to $12,424.80. The extra fees for non-resident graduate students will increase 2 percent to $17,664.

Trustees also approved an increase in room and board fees of from 3.7 percent to 3.8 percent. The cost varies depending on the type of room and meal plan.

Ohio universities often issue students proof of residency letters to help them vote. Many of these students are from out of state or another county.
The provision would make students who receive these letters eligible for in-state tuition, which could cost Ohio colleges millions of dollars.

The measure’s proponents say it would give students better tuition rates.

But OSU senior Kenneth Meyers, of Kansas, said that is the wrong way to go about reducing tuition. And Kenneth said he fears universities will stop providing the documentation.

“If they find out they can’t vote here in Ohio then maybe they’ll miss the deadline and they can’t vote in their home state. So, this should be something we celebrate and make easily accessible,” Meyers said.

OSU junior Michael Flannagan, of Maryland, said the provision is a blatant attempt to stifle the college vote.

“We are subject to the same laws in Ohio. We are subject to the same taxes, to the same sales taxes, we are subject to the same rules of Ohio. Try to use money as an excuse to take away our right to vote is wrong.”

Ohio State said it continues to analyze the measure. University spokeswoman Gayle Saunders said “the financial impact to OSU would be of concern to us.”

Last fall, nearly 1,200 out-of-state freshmen were enrolled at OSU.

That puts Ohio in second place overall for most expensive public universities, beaten out only by our neighboring rival Pennsylvania, for this dubious honor.

So, umm, go Bucks?!

And go they will, OSU leadership recommended a 3.2 percent increase in undergraduate tuition and fees for the 2012-2013 school year just weeks ago.

This tuition increase was announced on the heel of a Dayton Daily News story stating that last year the university’s salary bonuses increased by 89 percent.

In that article, Ohio University economics Professor Richard Vedder said, the scale of these bonuses are “not the norm in higher education,” and that he has “never seen anything like this – never.”

Fortunately (at least for those bonus recipients) the school has gotten the support it needs to produce results – at least that’s what OSU President Gordon Gee said.

During a press event in January, Governor Kasich said, “I can tell you Gordon Gee said that this administration is more friendly to higher education than about any place in the country, and Gordon says that now that we have what we need we better produce for the governor.”

But what was the context of that quote?

Kasich was speaking about a new minority jobs program he’s piloting at three community colleges and how those are being funded. At one of the colleges, the Lorain County Community College, the program will be funded through tuition revenue, which is increasing by another 3.5% due to diminished state funding, according to the LCCC Board.

Kasich’s patent response to complaints about reduced funding? He said that the LCCC should “better husband their resources and have a focus.”

Kasich went on to say that he wouldn’t raise taxes to help the situation, that raising taxes would make the state less competitive, that it would “kill the state.”

So what exactly would raising taxes do to kill Ohio? Nothing Kasich isn’t already doing, himself, by pushing tax increases down to the local level, where the cost is born upon the smallest group of people, often across those who are most hurting.

And according to a recent Institute for a Competitive Workforce, U.S. Chamber of Commerce report, Ohio universities rate below the national average on almost every measurement.

Which brings me back to the top 25 most expensive public university list.

When Kasich said he wants to keep our state competitive is he referring to lists like this? Because if we keep reaching for the top of that list, the only students our universities will have will be the ones whose parents received $1 million bonuses.

But, like those administrators taking bonuses while doling out tuition hikes, Kasich’s attempts at Union busting and defunding of education means his actions against Ohioans ring truer than his words.

OSU students likely will see an increase in their tuition bills starting in the fall.

The Finance Committee approved the university’s recommendation to increase undergraduate tuition by 3.5 percent. That’s about $315 per student each year. Tuition hikes are capped at 3.5 percent as proposed in the state budget.

OSU Chief Financial Officer Geoff Chatas said the university will lose about $60 million dollars in federal stimulus money this year that will not be replaced by the state.

“So this tuition increase will allow us, on some level, to offset some but not all of that loss of the state support for instruction,” Chatas said.

Overall, Chatas said the tuition hike would produce an additional $20 million in annual revenue for university.

Graduate tuition would increase by 5 percent. However, the housing and dining fee will increase by nearly 6 percent. Parking fees, less than 5 percent. Mandatory fees, like those for the union and the recreational centers, are expected to remain the same.

The recommendation goes before the full board of trustees for approval Friday.

Ohio State student Joe Forrest shook his head and grumbled “more money” when he heard about the proposed tuition increase.

While most students will get the news of a possible tuition hike next week when they return from spring break, others, like Forrest, already are contemplating how it might impact them.

“It’s all on a loan anyway, so it will be fine,” Forrest said.

The last time Ohio State increased tuition was 2006. Then a two-year statewide tuition freeze prevented further increases. The state lifted the ban last July. Ohio State officials honored an earlier promise to not raise tuition until after this year’s spring quarter.

Instead, students face a one-two tuition increase punch.

State law caps annual tuition increases at 3.5 percent. OSU proposes to get the first hike in just before the end of this fiscal year, and also at the start of the next.

OSU’s Senior Vice President for Business and Finance William Shkurti said he knows tuition increases are unpopular, but he said the two back-to-back increases actually saved students – or their parents – money in a difficult economic time.

“Had we done it earlier, say in the fall, you’d be reporting a 3.5 percent increase, which sounds a lot less. Our students and their families would have been out $12.5 million,” Shkurti said.

If passed, students will see a 3.5 percent increase tacked on to summer quarter tuition and another 3.5 percent again in the fall. The typical undergrad tuition this coming school year would rise to at around $9,400.

Sophomore Svetlana Clark is unsure how an increase would affect her.

“I’m on a scholarship now. So it depends if they increase the scholarship or not. But otherwise, I couldn’t afford it,” Clark said.

With the increase, OSU has the fifth highest in-state tuition among Ohio’s public universities. Miami University has the highest at nearly $13,000.

OSU board members are set to discuss the tuition increase next week. A vote on it is expected in May.

OSU tuition has not gone up in 3 years. Last July, following a two year freeze imposed by state lawmakers, Ohio’s public colleges got the go ahead to raise tuition by 3 point 5 percent. OSU however, promised to not increase its prices for the 2 thousand 9 to 10 school year. But, one major department says it needs to raise more money. OSU athletics director, Gene Smith says revenues from merchandising are down and travel costs are up. “You as an individual when you travel now you pay for two bags. When our tennis team goes on the road they always have two bags. When our football team goes on the road and so on and so forth, so a lot of areas have increased in expenditures.” Smith says.

With about 900 athletes in 36 sports Smith says he’s concerned by how much more their scholarships could cost. “Tuition going up is a possibility so we have to plan for that possibility and that obviously has not been determined either, but we always budget on the conservative side so we assume that it’s going up.” Smith says.

Most football tickets would cost 70 dollars, an increase of 7 bucks. The revenue increase from football alone would be about 4 million dollars.

OSU senior vice president for finance, Bill Shkurti.

“The athletic department is doing what it’s supposed to be do which is do long term planning as they set their ticket prices and they’re making an estimate of what they think is going to happen to both tuition and room and board however the university has not yet reached a decision on what we want to do with tuition.” Shkurti says. He expects a decision before May.

“We normally like to let students know what tuition is going to be coming next fall sometime in March or April, so we’re getting close to a decision. We aren’t there yet.” Shkurti says.

The OSU board of trustees is expected to vote today on raising ticket prices.

In an email letter to faculty, staff, students and parents, Ohio State President Gordon Gee said tuition will remain unchanged for a third year thanks to “the combination of increased state support, increased fall enrollment, and substantial internal University cost-savings, particularly in health care benefits.”

Gee noted that Ohio State is “bolstered by unparalleled support,” and the university will “intensify efforts to revitalize our state” through larger research efforts, more public and private collaborations, more job creation and expanded access to education. OSU Senior Vice President for Business and Finance Bill Shkurti cites three ways the university is offsetting the cost of the tuition freeze.

It’s a casualty of the recession AND a new, slimmer state budget that Ohio lawmakers are agreeing on. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports.

Ohio State in-state undergraduate students can expect to pay the same tuition this coming school year as they did over the past two years. This is the first time in 50 years the school has issued three back-to-back tuition freezes. Jo Ann Davidson chairs the fiscal affairs committee.

“One of the commitments that we have traditionally made to our students is once we set that tuition that will be what they can count on for the next school year. We are not setting the tuition yet for the regional campuses yet. That will come to the fiscal affairs committee in July,” Davidson said.

In-state students pay about $8,400 a year to attend OSU. Out-of-state and graduate students will see a two-and-a half percent increase in tuition and fees.

The board also approved a four-point-six percent room and board increase for the next three quarters, as well as a $27 student union facility fee.

Also at the board meeting OSU Senior Vice President for Business and Finance Bill Shkurti said the university also has already started to receive federal stimulus dollars for various programs such as research and infrastructure. He said a compliance task force has already been formed to manage the money.

“We know the federal government has made it a priority to make sure the money is spent quickly so it is a stimulus, but also that the money is spent correctly because it is taxpayers’ money . So we want to make sure we hit a home run on both counts and we’re working hard to do that to stay ahead of this rather than get behind it,” Shkurti said.

Shkruti said he’s not sure how much money OSU will get in the end. He said some of the money is tied up in the state budget which has not yet been passed. But in Shkurti’s words “it’s tens of millions of dollars at least.”

Also noted at the board meeting is the increase in medical students who are minorities. Thirteen percent of this year’s medical students are minorities – that’s up from seven-and-a-half percent last year.