Phil_Bennett's_Mustache wrote:a buddy of mine who's a USC alum said that all of his SC buddies are sending their kids to SMU now b/c it's a bargain compared to SoCal. he said it's up to $42k/yr.
Can any of them play football or basketball?
Baylor will increase its tuition for next year, as described in the following article from the Saturday, Oct. 29 issue of the Waco Tribune-Herald.
Tuition and fees for Baylor University undergraduate students will increase by 7.8 percent for the 2006-07 school year.
The move came Friday during Baylor regents' annual homecoming meeting, traditionally the time they decide tuition. Regents voted to increase undergraduate tuition and fees from the current $21,070 to $22,714 a year, officials said Friday. Tuition alone is to increase 8 percent from the current $19,050 to 20,574.
Tuition and fees also will increase by 7.8 percent for graduate students and 6.3 percent for George W. Truett Theological Seminary students. Law students will see a 12.5 percent increase, officials said.
Baylor interim president Bill Underwood said he told regents the increase is needed to boost faculty and staff compensation after three lean years. According to Underwood, faculty and staff got a 3 percent pay raise this year, but last year no raises were given due to budget cutbacks.
“We simply concluded that that level of tuition and fee increase was absolutely necessary if we are going to continue providing the quality of education that we are committed to providing to our students at Baylor University,†Underwood said. “Any time we raise tuition we do so reluctantly, and that was true in this case.â€
The increase is also an effort to restore cuts in recent years to capital budgets to pay for classroom, lab and office equipment, and to catch up on deferred business maintenance, he said. The university is also having to absorb a $2.4 million annual increase in energy costs.
“The increase was the minimum we could do and feel good about the quality of services we are providing our students,†Underwood said.
The increase comes a year after regents raised tuition and fees by 6.4 percent to the current level. According to the College Board, a nonprofit association which administers tests including the SAT, private universities overall raised their tuition and fees by 5.9 percent for the current school year.
Texas Christian University in Fort Worth currently charges $21,280 for a year's tuition and fees, an 8 percent increase over the 2004-05 school year. Southern Methodist University in Dallas charges $26,880 in tuition and fees, a 6 percent increase from last year. Officials with both universities said rates have not yet been set for the 2006-07 school year.
Austin regent Randy Ferguson, head of the Baylor regents finance committee, which recommended the increase to the full board, said he is not sure what effect the tuition increase will have on enrollment next year.
This year Baylor enrolled 3,168 freshmen, a record class size.
“There's great concern about the cost of Baylor,†Ferguson said. “It's not taken lightly, and the finance committee is deeply concerned about that and aware of the burden that our tuition can be on some families.â€
The news drew mixed reactions from students Friday afternoon.
“It's a lot of money, but then it's a private school and I like that the classes aren't that big, and you expect (higher tuition) to an extent,†said biology freshman Samantha Spears.
Nicholas Citro, a sophomore majoring in music performance, said, “Obviously I am not thrilled. It seems like that's becoming a trend now. I get a scholarship and that helps, but it's really going to make it difficult for some who are thinking of coming here.â€
Katie Weiss, external student body vice president and a junior political science major, said she and other student leaders met with Underwood and regents to air their concerns about an increase.
“We understand after it was explained to us why we had to raise tuition this year, but we urged the regents and the presidents to pursue other avenues of funding instead of on the backs of students,†Weiss said.
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/ne ... ition.html