JONESBORO -- The Arkansas State University System's board of trustees raised tuition and fees systemwide Wednesday, expressing a need to offer employee merit pay and to create a surplus for future maintenance costs.
The five trustees voted unanimously on the 1.9 percent increase for the ASU-Jonesboro campus, which is the smallest increase of the 10 public four-year universities in Arkansas this year, ASU System President Chuck Welch said.
The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville increased its tuition and fees by 3.5 percent, and the University of Arkansas at Monticello raised its tuition and fees by 11.8 percent. UAM also added a $10 per credit hour deferred maintenance fee last week.
At ASU-Beebe, ASU-Mountain Home and ASU-Newport, tuition and fees are to increase by 1.8 percent. For ASU-Mid-South in West Memphis, the increase is 2.4 percent to compensate for the expiration of a U.S. Department of Labor grant.
On the Jonesboro campus, the increase means that in-state undergraduate students will pay $2 more in tuition for a rate of $202 per credit hour. All students also will pay an additional $3 per credit hour for deferred maintenance.
Welch said the new fee is the result of a recent Arkansas Department of Higher Education facilities audit that indicated the ASU System had $29 million in "critical needs."
The "critical needs" include work on roofs at residence halls, waterproofing facilities and exterior repairs to buildings, the president said.
"This has been something of a concern for quite a long time," Welch said. "It's only going to get worse. There is a real desire on my part to be prepared."
The fee will generate an estimated $1.8 million to $2.4 million a year, he said.
Trustees gathered for a special meeting on the Jonesboro campus Wednesday to approve the increases. The special meeting was held because legislators provided information on funding to universities later than in the past, Welch said.
"It was impossible to get everything together for our regular meeting," he said, referring to the board's May 13 meeting at ASU-Mid South.
Wednesday's board meeting went quickly, with trustees noting that the increase was one of the lowest with which they've been involved. Last year, trustees favored a 4.2 percent increase in tuition and fees.
Trustee Niel Crowson of Jonesboro asked campus chancellors to assess personnel needs and closely monitor expenditures.
"This is the second opportunity I've had to review the budget," Crowson said. "I'd prefer not to have any increases, but I am realistic. I challenge each campus to make employee compensation a top priority."
Crowson asked chancellors to review staff positions to determine if any are underperforming or are "no longer viable."
"Any money saved can be used to strengthen our employee pool," he said.
Welch said he realized that a deferred-maintenance fee was necessary after the ASU System paid $15 million to replace every light bulb and fixture on its campuses earlier this year.
"We are not expecting any additional revenue funding from the state," he said.
The president added that it's been at least six years since state funding for universities has increased.
"We wanted to be as efficient as possible," Welch said. "We don't want to get caught 15 to 20 years from now with greater [maintenance] crises than we have now."
State Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, said he hopes that legislators address university funding during the next legislative session, but yearly tuition increases have helped put money in university coffers.
"Universities have seen increases [in tuition and fees] of 10 [percent] to 12 percent over the past six or seven years," Sullivan said. "What other business, besides the medical field, can say that?
"If they keep raising costs, consumers will be concerned. At some point, consumers will say they can no longer afford it. The universities will have to consider if they will absorb costs in the future or if consumers will."
State Rep. Dwight Tosh, R-Jonesboro, also said legislators will study education funding,
"We have to look at all priorities," Tosh said. "As of now, there are so many needs across the state. If we can see a way to help offset [university expenses], we will."
For the first time, trustees approved an itemized capital project plan for each ASU campus. The Jonesboro campus's $17.9 million capital budget includes $15.2 million for an energy performance contract and a $1.5 million project to complete the Marion Berry-University Loop extension on the southwestern edge of campus.
Trustees also favored a 1.25 percent faculty merit raise and a 1 percent nonclassified staff merit raise.
Welch said tuition and fees make up 55.6 percent of the ASU System's revenue this year, and 42.7 percent comes from the state. Twenty-five years ago, in 1991, state funding gave ASU 67.9 percent of its revenue, and tuition and fees made up 27.8 percent.
"We realize the burden placed on our students and family," Welch said. "At some point we've got to slow it down. We want to get by with as little as we can, but we are looking at an absence of other revenues."
State Desk on 06/02/2016