Wayne State raises tuition 5.4% for fall

Wayne State University raises tuition 5.4% for fall

Increase said to be necessary to maintain quality

Marisa Schultz / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Students at Wayne State University will face a 5.4 percent tuition increase in the fall after the Board of Governors unanimously and "reluctantly" raised rates Wednesday.

A full-time freshman taking 30 credits annually will pay about $8,547 for the upcoming year, up from $8,109. However, federal stimulus dollars to the university should lessen the impact of the boost to 4.8 percent for resident undergraduate students.

Board member Debbie Dingell said the board "reluctantly" agreed a tuition increase was necessary to maintain quality during economic turmoil.

"We do this with much sensitivity to the impact on students, and with the sad understanding that even this modest increase is a burden," she said.

The board's action marks a compromise following a budget and finance committee meeting where members were divided on two proposals to raise tuition either 4.8 percent or 5.9 percent.

The debate centered on keeping the university affordable versus preserving quality; administrators claimed library hours and faculty would have to be reduced if tuition wasn't raised enough to combat an anticipated 3 percent loss in revenue from the state.

The total Wayne State budget will increase about 2 percent to account for rising fixed costs, according to the administration.

Some students say any increase will affect students who are already struggling to pay for tuition.

"I just spent all of my grocery money on buying books for eight weeks," said Sarah Cronk, 23, a master's student who anticipates a $60,000 loan debt between her undergraduate and graduate degrees. "I'm fortunate that I have family to help me out. If I didn't, I don't know what I would do."

Anthony Leo, a student representative on the board's budget committee, said he fears if the board didn't raise tuition adequately, students will be greatly affected by deep cuts.

"Wayne State has done a great job of running on bare bones, giving the essentials and offering a great education at a great price," said Leo. But he said potential cuts to library hours and part-time faculty may go too deep, affecting students' ability to register and study for classes.

The board will decide on the rest of the university budget in August; about $4.7 million in cuts are anticipated. In the meantime, the board directed the university to lift a freeze on hiring part-time faculty.