Tuition/Housing Costs To Increase this Fall

April 19, 2004 -- Jacksonville State University students will incur a $62.50 per month tuition increase beginning with the fall semester. Housing will increase an average of 27 percent. (There was no "flat rate" increase in housing - some facilities will have higher increases than others. See tuition, fee and room information presented to the board by Clint Carlson, vice president for administrative and business affairs.)

Speaking to reporters before Monday's Board of Trustees meeting, President Bill Meehan said lean state appropriations necessitated the $250 per semester increase. He said a $275 hike had been proposed by the University's budget committee but that "we expect a small increase in state funding of three to four percent, at best, allowing us to reduce the committee's recommendation."

Faculty retention is among the reasons for the increase. Citing "a strain" in state funding, Dr. Meehan said the recent loss of five doctorate-level faculty members, including the dean of the College of Nursing, to more lucrative jobs elsewhere shows that JSU is having trouble remaining competitive in faculty salaries.

Dr. Meehan said trustees were taking up the tuition and housing issue as early as possible "to give parents plenty of time to adjust. It would not be fair to announce an increase at the August meeting for the school year beginning in September."

Lacking a quorum, trustees present for Monday's meeting acted as a committee of the whole, and the full board will vote on the measures by mailed ballot.

Even with the increase, JSU's tuition and fees, currently the least expensive of Alabama's public four-year colleges and universities, will remain at or below the median in the state, Dr. Meehan said.

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