SUNY panel urges $620 increase in tuition

A State University of New York committee voted today to recommend a $2.37 billion 2009-10 spending plan to the Board of Trustees that would increase annual tuition by $620 and seek $2.37 billion in taxpayer support.

Half of the $620 hike would kick in for the spring semester, the first three months of which are the tail end of the current fiscal year.

SUNY Board of Trustees members said they understand the state is in a fiscal crisis, but they would want certain conditions met by Gov. David Paterson and legislators, who ultimately decide how much SUNY receives. Trustees want what’s been called a “rational tuition” plan, meaning it would go up in an incremental and predictable amount each year. They are suggesting that it be tied to the Higher Education Price Index. They also want control of the additional money that raises.

Paterson’s proposal to lawmakers for midyear budget cuts called for a $600 annual tuition increase, starting with $300 in the spring semester. Lawmakers are considering governor’s plan today. Just 10 percent of the $300 would go toward SUNY and the rest would be deposited in the state’s general fund. In 2009-10, SUNY would get 20 percent of the $600 and the state would receive the rest. Another $600 would boost tuition 13.8 percent to $4,950 a year.

SUNY has been hit a few times this fiscal year with funding cuts. Reductions have had a net impact of $210 million.

The full Board of Trustees will vote on the SUNY budget proposal this afternoon.

Other conditions for lawmakers and the governor that trustees are considering today include:

• Giving SUNY the ability to sell or lease assets, pursue short-term naming rights and related advertising revenue, explore development of SUNY property, divest assets and other public-private measures.
• Reforming some of the state controls over SUNY, such as allowing SUNY to control revenue from tuition and fees, reduce red tape involved in making purchases and setting up contracts, and take other actions.

The $2.37 billion in taxpayer funding for SUNY would be a $245.4 million increase from the current year. Total spending, which includes taxpayer support, other funding and revenues raised, would go up $628.7 million to $7.3 billion under the proposal trustees are scheduled to vote on today.

SUNY tuition has been raised twice in the past 14 years for undergraduates from New York. Both times, it went up 28 percent in a single year and only partially offset larger reductions in state support those years, according to the SUNY proposal. The last time it went up was in 2003.

The Student Assembly voted last month to approve gradual increases in tuition each year, and students at several colleges have been conducting postcard and petition campaigns to show their support.

According to the Paterson administration, giving a portion of the tuition hike to SUNY is a departure from a practice that has been in place for more than 30 years.

Even after adding $600, SUNY’s tuition would still be low when compared with other state schools, said SUNY Purchase College President Thomas Schwarz. Presidents of SUNY’s state-operated four-year schools support raising tuition by $1,090 to begin with. Half of that would be due in the spring semester.

“I believe in a rational tuition plan, but you have to start at a certain level,” said Schwarz, who attended the Trustees Finance and Administration Committee meeting this morning.

This report was written by Cara Matthews of The Associated Press.