Spring Break
Truth in Tuition sweeps some costs under the rug
Krystal Moya / Administration Editor
Issue date: 5/4/09 Section: News
The Truth in Tuition Act shielded current students at Eastern from the blows of a $21 per credit hour increase to tuition for the 2010 fiscal year.
This act saves in-state students, who enroll in same-state higher education institutions, from incurring tuition increases over their academic tenure. In other words, students lock in their tuition rates their first semester of enrollment for their consecutive four academic years.
This act is also compiled as a provision in the Eastern Illinois University Law under section 10-120, and was made effective Jan. 1, 2004.
This section of the law states, "For four continuous academic years following initial enrollment (or for undergraduate programs that require more than four years to complete, for the normal time to complete the program, as determined by the University), the tuition charged an undergraduate student who is an Illinois resident shall not exceed the amount that the student was charged at the time he or she first enrolled in the University."
However, there are exceptions to this law. Once the clock starts rolling on those four years, they do not stop. The law only requires universities to fix tuition for eight semesters with a one-semester grace period. Students who take a semester off lose that semester's fixed rate.
Also, if students change their major, the law states that universities can apply the tuition rate for the time period of when the student changed, thus voiding the previous lock-in rate and starting over with the new one.
Student who are not eligible for the benefits are out-of-state students, graduate students, law students, postgraduate students, non-degree-seeking undergraduate students, visiting students, non-graduated secondary school students and degree-seeking undergraduates enrolled before fall 2004.
"The purpose of the law is to eliminate the 'sucker-punch' effect on students," said State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon. "Previous to this law, students could be subject to any kind of increase throughout their academic careers."
Righter said students could not plan for their education costs as effectively because they could be hit with high increases at any point in their education. In the year this law was instituted in Illinois, three Arizona universities hiked their tuition 39 percent, according to background provided for the law. Righter said students and teachers could not plan for the hike and that hardships like those should be avoided.
However, Righter said there are problems with this law as well.
"This law tends to make universities overcompensate for the year, fearing the unknown for their budgets," he said. "So, they front-load their costs, making tuition increases at the fullest extent that they can. This raises the costs for the first two years over what they could and should be."
This means that with "Truth in Tuition" pricing, colleges have to think ahead about costs and have an incentive to develop more restrained budget growth plans. First- and second-year tuition tends to be inflated in order to compensate for under-charging in later years.
Because of higher pricing in the first two years of cost, students who transfer or drop out are inundated with costs they would not have to pay if tuition costs were not front-loaded.
Righter said most governments, institutions and citizens are willing to accept the up-front costs in return for knowing they can plan for the future accordingly. The ability to know how to budget for college expenses when tuition keeps increasing is valued more than the money families lose in the up-front costs, Righter said.
Dan Nadler, vice president for student affairs, who approves tuition and fee increases to be proposed to the Board of Trustees, said it is "more important for Congress to demand states stop cutting aid to higher education."
He said the large cuts in funding schools have been facing from the states is the No. 1 reason for tuition increases.
This is the reason for the second-highest tuition increase since 2005, which the board approved April 27.
Krystal Moya can be reached at 581-7942 or at ksmoya@eiu.edu.
This act saves in-state students, who enroll in same-state higher education institutions, from incurring tuition increases over their academic tenure. In other words, students lock in their tuition rates their first semester of enrollment for their consecutive four academic years.
This act is also compiled as a provision in the Eastern Illinois University Law under section 10-120, and was made effective Jan. 1, 2004.
This section of the law states, "For four continuous academic years following initial enrollment (or for undergraduate programs that require more than four years to complete, for the normal time to complete the program, as determined by the University), the tuition charged an undergraduate student who is an Illinois resident shall not exceed the amount that the student was charged at the time he or she first enrolled in the University."
However, there are exceptions to this law. Once the clock starts rolling on those four years, they do not stop. The law only requires universities to fix tuition for eight semesters with a one-semester grace period. Students who take a semester off lose that semester's fixed rate.
Also, if students change their major, the law states that universities can apply the tuition rate for the time period of when the student changed, thus voiding the previous lock-in rate and starting over with the new one.
Student who are not eligible for the benefits are out-of-state students, graduate students, law students, postgraduate students, non-degree-seeking undergraduate students, visiting students, non-graduated secondary school students and degree-seeking undergraduates enrolled before fall 2004.
"The purpose of the law is to eliminate the 'sucker-punch' effect on students," said State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon. "Previous to this law, students could be subject to any kind of increase throughout their academic careers."
Righter said students could not plan for their education costs as effectively because they could be hit with high increases at any point in their education. In the year this law was instituted in Illinois, three Arizona universities hiked their tuition 39 percent, according to background provided for the law. Righter said students and teachers could not plan for the hike and that hardships like those should be avoided.
However, Righter said there are problems with this law as well.
"This law tends to make universities overcompensate for the year, fearing the unknown for their budgets," he said. "So, they front-load their costs, making tuition increases at the fullest extent that they can. This raises the costs for the first two years over what they could and should be."
This means that with "Truth in Tuition" pricing, colleges have to think ahead about costs and have an incentive to develop more restrained budget growth plans. First- and second-year tuition tends to be inflated in order to compensate for under-charging in later years.
Because of higher pricing in the first two years of cost, students who transfer or drop out are inundated with costs they would not have to pay if tuition costs were not front-loaded.
Righter said most governments, institutions and citizens are willing to accept the up-front costs in return for knowing they can plan for the future accordingly. The ability to know how to budget for college expenses when tuition keeps increasing is valued more than the money families lose in the up-front costs, Righter said.
Dan Nadler, vice president for student affairs, who approves tuition and fee increases to be proposed to the Board of Trustees, said it is "more important for Congress to demand states stop cutting aid to higher education."
He said the large cuts in funding schools have been facing from the states is the No. 1 reason for tuition increases.
This is the reason for the second-highest tuition increase since 2005, which the board approved April 27.
Krystal Moya can be reached at 581-7942 or at ksmoya@eiu.edu.
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