Henderson State raises tuition after deficit year

In the file photo spring 2015 commencement ceremonies are shown on the Campus of Henderson State University.
In the file photo spring 2015 commencement ceremonies are shown on the Campus of Henderson State University.

Another public university in Arkansas is raising tuition after a board of trustees vote Friday morning.

The cost of attending Henderson State University, for an undergraduate taking 15 credit hours per semester, will be $9,010.50 next academic year, up from $8,635.50 this year. That's a 4.5% increase.

The increase is largely because of a $10 per credit hour tuition increase and a $2.50 per credit hour library fee increase, from $2.50 to $5, for improvements to Huie Library.

The Arkadelphia universitywill also restore temporary cuts it made last year and raise faculty and staff salaries, spokesman Tina Hall said.

Housing and meal plan prices will go up 3%, but it was unclear Friday what the annual dollar amount would be. Resident students who pay for unlimited meals currently pay $1,671. An increase of 3% would mean those students would pay $1,721 next year. Housing costs vary by residence hall, but the most common price for a double room is $2,081, meaning a 3% increase would require students living in those dorms to pay $2,143 next year.

Henderson State is the third Arkansas public university to raise its costs, one year after all schools held off on increasing tuition at the request of Gov. Asa Hutchinson. The three remaining public university systems -- the University of Arkansas, Southern Arkansas University and Arkansas State University -- will meet in the coming weeks.

For years now, the onus of sustaining and expanding colleges and universities has increasingly been on the students attending those schools.

Annual tuition increases have been long blamed on stagnant state funding that doesn't keep up with inflation and other needs. They were standard in Arkansas for years before last year's freeze. Henderson State increased fees last year while keeping tuition flat.

Colleges compete with one another for new students now and in the future will face long-term reductions in high school graduates likely to exacerbate the competition.

The increased tuition and fees have helped create student-loan debt that now totals more than $1.5 trillion nationwide.

The cost of college is gaining more attention among Democratic presidential candidates, who have called for varying levels of free tuition programs and even the cancellation of most borrowers' current debt.

Henderson State, which cut its budget last year, has so far spent more money than it has taken in this fiscal year.

According to documents provided in the board of trustees agenda packet for its meeting Friday, the university had received $69,687,252 in revenue and spent $69,736,430, a difference of $49,178, as of May 2.

University leaders say they expect enrollment to rise 3.5% next year, which would put enrollment above 4,000 students. About 10% of enrolled students in fall 2018 were high school students. Enrollment increased last fall for the first time since 2014.

Last year, the university faced a $3.2 million deficit and continued declining enrollment and subsequently cut its budget to $65.3 million for this fiscal year. Next year, following the board of trustees vote Friday, the university is budgeting $69 million.

The university plans to spend $82,600 more in salaries and $430,825 more in "equity adjustments" for employees. Another $49,800 will likely be paid to accommodate the state's minimum wage increase.

While projecting higher enrollment and raising tuition, Henderson State said it anticipates a $2.2 million increase in student tuition revenue, to $25.5 million. The library fee will raise an additional $261,380, to $3.7 million, according to revenue projections in next year's budget. The university anticipates a slight increase in state revenue of $154,407, to $21.3 million.

The university plans to save money through a new energy project. The school will spend $15.7 million on mechanical, lighting, and heating and air conditioning upgrades. Over the 20-year life of the project, leaders plan to save $5.6 million in utility bills and $6.5 million in operational costs, such as repairs and maintenance on old equipment, according to a summary provided to trustees.

Out-of-state tuition will rise by a slightly smaller amount, about 4.3%, from $276 per credit hour to $288 per credit hour. Out-of-state students taking 15 credit hours per semester will pay $10,720.50 in the upcoming academic year.

In-state-graduate students will pay 4.4% more in tuition, from $269 per credit hour to $281 per credit hour. Out-of-state graduate students also will pay 4.4% more, from $336 per credit hour to $351 per credit hour.

Information for this article was contributed by Debra Hale-Shelton of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

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Henderson State University tuition and fees

Metro on 05/18/2019

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