Tuition could increase for fall
Nicole Smith
Issue date: 4/16/09 Section: News
Winthrop could have to increase next semester's tuition, depending on Gov. Mark Sanford's decisions on what to do with the state's federal stimulus money.
Under the stimulus bill, the university is slated to receive $3.7 million, most of the money it has already lost this fiscal year.
But with more cuts on the way, the money won't arrive in time to help the current fiscal year.
"Given the depth of state appropriation reductions throughout the past year, a tuition increase will be necessary," Rebecca Masters, assistant to the president for public affairs at Winthrop University, told The (Columbia) State.
She pointed out that the university has already absorbed much of the reduction in state appropriations through internal measures, such as implementing nine days of faculty furlough.
The stimulus money would "allow us to minimize any tuition increases significantly," she told The State.
"Without those stimulus funds, tuition increases will have to be more, even as we continue spending reductions," she said.
Sanford and the state General Assembly are at a stalemate on how the $700 million portion of the money should be spent. Lawmakers want to use the money for public schools, colleges and law enforcement, as the White House designated, but Sanford wants to pay down the state's debt.
A state budget won't be made until May or late June, which is when colleges submit their own budgets.
Public colleges and universities in the state saw a state funding cut of 17.7 percent, the largest drop in the country, according to a report from the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University.
Other universities are unsure where their tuition will go.
"Obviously, in this climate, it's possible," said Mike Robertson, senior director of media relations for the College of Charleston, to The State. "It all depends on what comes back from the General Assembly."
Coastal Carolina's Board of Trustees has voted to limit tuition increases by no more than 4 percent for in-state students and 4.4 percent for out-of-state students.
There have been no tuition decisions at Clemson or University of South Carolina.
Tuition at public institutions in South Carolina is already the highest in the Southeast, The State reported.
Under the stimulus bill, the university is slated to receive $3.7 million, most of the money it has already lost this fiscal year.
But with more cuts on the way, the money won't arrive in time to help the current fiscal year.
"Given the depth of state appropriation reductions throughout the past year, a tuition increase will be necessary," Rebecca Masters, assistant to the president for public affairs at Winthrop University, told The (Columbia) State.
She pointed out that the university has already absorbed much of the reduction in state appropriations through internal measures, such as implementing nine days of faculty furlough.
The stimulus money would "allow us to minimize any tuition increases significantly," she told The State.
"Without those stimulus funds, tuition increases will have to be more, even as we continue spending reductions," she said.
Sanford and the state General Assembly are at a stalemate on how the $700 million portion of the money should be spent. Lawmakers want to use the money for public schools, colleges and law enforcement, as the White House designated, but Sanford wants to pay down the state's debt.
A state budget won't be made until May or late June, which is when colleges submit their own budgets.
Public colleges and universities in the state saw a state funding cut of 17.7 percent, the largest drop in the country, according to a report from the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University.
Other universities are unsure where their tuition will go.
"Obviously, in this climate, it's possible," said Mike Robertson, senior director of media relations for the College of Charleston, to The State. "It all depends on what comes back from the General Assembly."
Coastal Carolina's Board of Trustees has voted to limit tuition increases by no more than 4 percent for in-state students and 4.4 percent for out-of-state students.
There have been no tuition decisions at Clemson or University of South Carolina.
Tuition at public institutions in South Carolina is already the highest in the Southeast, The State reported.
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