BGSU raises tuition 3.5% to offset $8.5M reduction in state funding

BOWLING GREEN - As Bowling Green State University looks forward to its first significant increase in enrollment since 2006, trustees agreed Friday to raise tuition by 3.5 percent again this fall.

Trustees approved a tuition increase of $164 per semester for full-time undergraduates, which will bring the total cost of tuition and general fees to $9,704 a year. The action comes on the heels of a 3.5 percent increase approved in October effective with the spring 2010 semester.

BGSU President Carol Cartwright said all Ohio universities will raise tuition this year because of reductions in state funding. BGSU expects an $8.5 million decline in state funding for the new school year.

"It's 164 more dollars, and we know for some families, that is a challenge," Ms. Cartwright said, noting BGSU's tuition was frozen for three years.

"In the years we had zero tuition increases, we had improved state support," she said. "When the state could not provide that support this year, they in effect said we understand tuition increases will be forthcoming because we're pulling $64 million out of this year's higher-education support."

To offset funding and enrollment declines, BGSU has made $21 million in cuts since 2008, said Sheri Stoll, chief financial officer. In addition to layoffs and furlough days, 138 employees signed up for an "employee separation plan" that allowed full-time faculty and staff with at least 15 years at BGSU to leave or retire.

The tuition increase, which is expected to generate $2.5 million, was built into the $297.7 million budget approved for the upcoming school year. It included $283.6 million for the main campus in Bowling Green and $14.1 million for the Firelands campus in Huron, Ohio. The budget sets aside $2.36 million for merit salary increases for faculty and staff.

Employees received no raises in 2009, Ms. Cartwright said, adding that the largest chunk of money was designated for associate, assistant, and full professors whose pay lags their peers' at comparable universities.

She said BGSU will continue to invest in attracting and retaining students, an effort that seems to be paying off.

Overall enrollment for this fall is expected to be up by 4 percent, or 600 students. The freshman class is expected to reach 3,700, making it the second-largest freshman class in the university's history.

Ms. Cartwright said BGSU is attracting new students "the old-fashioned way - getting out there, making sure people are aware of BGSU and what we have to offer, the value that is here, and making sure we have the right contacts with the right people over time."

The university had 3,213 more visitors to campus this year compared to last year, made 94,814 more calls to students, and had 723 more off-campus recruitment activities.

Because of the enrollment boom, trustees set aside $500,000 in the budget to add class sections.

Also yesterday, trustees:

•Approved a campus master plan that outlines proposed physical changes to be implemented over the next 15 years.

•Hired Thomas Hiles as vice president for university advancement and president and chief executive officer of the BGSU Foundation, Inc. at a salary of $250,000.

•Hired William Bradley Colwell as dean of the College of Education at a salary of $165,000 and hired Kay Flowers as dean of university libraries and full professor at a salary of $152,000.

•Elected retired Col. John Moore, Jr., as chairman of the board of trustees.

In Columbus yesterday, Gov. Ted Strickland announced several appointments to BGSU's Board of Trustees:

•Megan Newlove, a Bowling Green lawyer who served on Bowling Green City Council from 2004 to 2009. She received a bachelor's degree from Miami University in 1992 and a law degree from the University of Toledo in 1995.

•Stephen G. Daley, a Columbus financial adviser. Mr. Daley, who works for Ameriprise Financial Services, has served on the student affairs advisory board since 2007 and received a bachelor's degree from the university in 1988.

•Abby Priehs, a philosophy doctoral student, was appointed a student member of the board. She serves as a liaison in the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs and previously was a resident director at the University of California-Santa Barbara.

Blade Columbus Bureau Chief Jim Provance contributed to this report.

Contact Jennifer Feehan

at jfeehan@theblade.com

or 419-724-6129.