Tuition bumps over $15K
SIX PER CENT INCREASE FOR NEXT YEAR
March 23, 2006
Angela Wiebe
Despite the fact that Trinity Western University has issued the smallest per centage tuition increase in about seven years, there are still some students who are outraged with the rising costs of their education.
“I am completely opposed to [the tuition increase],” said second year Politics and Chemistry student Ben Linkewich. He feels the school has too much interest in upgrading its buildings and programs and that the extra cost is all being deferred to students.
“They’re trying to expand way too rapidly,” Linkewich said.
Tuition for 2006/2007 will cost $7,696 per 15 semester hours, which is six per cent higher than this year. The rate of increase, however, has come down by one per cent since 2003/04. Room and board rates next year will be $4,190 per semester, which is a rise of 1.95 per cent.
Executive Assistant to the president, Glen Forrester, said TWU is cutting costs as much as possible in order to start bringing the percentage increase down each year.
“We came to a point where we realized we just cannot continue at this rate,” Forrester said. “At what point do students go to other schools?”
Over the last couple of years, Forrester said, TWU has actively cut back in areas such as staffing and buying in order to keep the tuition increases to a minimum. This includes decreasing the number of times an unpopular class is offered, or by leaving vacated positions unfilled.
Forrester noted that as a member of CCCU, TWU’s tuition increases are actually in line or less compared with the other CCCU schools. The average rate of tuition increase among these schools is seven per cent per year, with the tuition costs having tripled since 1988. Forrester added that students should expect increases for every year that they are attending TWU.
He feels that the student population is beginning to understand the necessity of the increases, which has resulted in less public outcry. While Forrester has received up to 50 angry emails from students in the past, so far he has only received seven this year.
Many students, however, say that they did not realize that annual tuition increases were just another part of attending TWU.
Nursing student Robin Gerevas said that she had no idea her education was guaranteed to increase each year. “I feel like they put us in a bind. What is the option, to leave and start somewhere else?”
While TWUSA president James Moes said TWU is open with their budgeting process, there still is not much room for parent or student input.
“[Tuition increases are] expected by now, but I think parents and students wish that there would be more engagement in the process,” Moes said.
A potential budget is presented to TWU’s Board of Governors each fall and once it is approved a real budget is created and approved in February.
One group of students being hit the hardest by tuition increases are Americans, whose dollar has steadily decreased in the last few years.
First year Kristina Pfiffner, from Seattle, said the decreasing American dollar combined with the increasing tuition is putting a strain on her parents’ pocketbooks.
“One of my main reasons for coming here was that it was a lot more affordable,” Pfiffner said in comparison to American private Christian schools. “But the higher the tuition goes, the less truth there is to that.”
Although Forrester has seen the number of American students dwindle since 9/11, he’s not too worried about losing TWU’s American student body.
“The market will adjust,” he said. “We still have a quality product in the American marketplace.”
Forrester said the school will continue to keep the tuition increase as small as possible as they look into alternative revenue sources, such as research grants, and outside donations from alumni, businesses, and private donors.
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