Tuition hikes to average 6% at Miss. public universities

JACKSON — Tuition at Mississippi’s eight public universities will increase by an average of more than 6 percent this fall, an amount universities say is needed to make up for the lingering effects of state aid cuts during the recession.

State College Board figures show the average price for two semesters of full-time tuition and fees will rise by an average of $381. That puts it at $6,329.

The College Board voted in spring 2012 on a two-year tuition plan and didn’t vote on the subject this year. Higher Education Commissioner Hank Bounds said schools were given the option to change plans this spring, but none chose to.

“We recognize that it places a burden on students, and we are doing everything we can to minimize increases,” Bounds said.

In November, the board approved $50-a-semester facilities fee for students at Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi. Those extra fees mean the state’s two largest universities are raising their prices by the largest percentages — 8.1 percent at MSU and 7.6 percent at Ole Miss.

Most students don’t pay the sticker price, thanks to federal, state and collegebased aid. Larry Sparks, the vice chancellor for administration and finance at Ole Miss, pointed to the Ole Miss Opportunity program, created in 2010 to cover the cost of tuition, room and board for Mississippi residents whose families make $30,000 or less per year.

“We are doing our best to maintain affordability for as many of our students as we can,” he said.

Still, increasing college costs are far outstripping stagnant family incomes. In-state tuition has gone up 57 percent since the fall of 2004, while household incomes have been flat in Mississippi. It now takes about 16 percent of the typical Mississippi family’s income to pay for one year of college at a state university, not counting room, board or other costs.

As costs outstrip family incomes, more students are borrowing to pay for school. More than half of students at the state’s eight public universities had federally f inanced student debt in 2011, with the average student borrowing more than $6,000. The numbers are higher at some schools. Federal figures show 90 percent of Mississippi Valley State University undergraduates had loans in 2011, owing an average of more than $7,800.

Universities say they need more money to increase faculty salaries, cover operation costs and make up for cuts to state aid during the recession.

“We need the tuition increase to try to make up ground lost over the last five years,” said MSU spokesman Sid Salter.

Associated Press