TRUTH
The ugly about registration fees Tuition no longer absorbs state cuts Students worried about housing security deposits
ASHLEY WOLF Editor-In-Chief
page 2
SGA talks about last semester’s parking bill page 4
Scholars’ student shares best study spots page 7
The Fall 2016 semester did not begin with a “bang,” but with a $25 increase in registration fees per credit hour, which some might call a “blow.” This “blow” was not softened by a warning. MyNSU delivered the harsh news to students when they paid their bills, and the Student Concerns Page sent Facebook into a flurry of notifications. NSU policy does not require that Business Affairs inform students of increased fees. However, Bursar Daphne Sampité said there was no time to notify students since the state did not make budget decisions for the 2016-17 academic year until the end of July. “We have no control on the timing of that,” Sampité said. “Literally a week before the pre-bills went out was when we got approval.”
The Elevate Louisiana Initiative Results of the FY 14-15 Fiscal Health Analysis
Sampité said that legislation in House Bill 152 of the 2015 Regular Session allowed NSU to increase fees, but restricted increased tuition. NSU is funding 100 percent of TOPS at last year’s rate, but full-time students will pay approximately $300 more in registration fees than last year. However, NSU President Jim Henderson said that NSU is “investing dollars in the right things.” NSU’s budgetary records are disclosed on the Business Affairs website, but Henderson, Sampité and the Vice President for Business Affairs, Carl Jones, explained, in plain terms— without spreadsheets or math jargon—how the increased registration fees will be used:
1.Accumulated reductions in state funding
The accumulated budget declines since 2008 is the primary reason, Jones said, that fees have increased. Since 2008, tuition and fees have gone up almost 120 percent at most Louisiana universities. Jones said NSU students are now funding 78 percent of their educations, while the state funds 28 percent in the operating fund alone.
2.Thirty new faculty members and added resources to the sciences and languages
The registration fund pays for “the right things” by feeding into the general operating fund, an unrestricted fund used for university operations. Faculty salaries and educational resources come from this fund, but it does not cover job salaries related with food service and non-educational fees. Jones said the general operating fund is “purely educational.”
3. Unfunded mandates
The general operating fund not only pays for faculty salaries, but for related benefits. “Related benefits, like to pay the matching part of insurance—they’re called mandates— which you’re required to do,” said Sampeté. “It’s like a company…As you know, health insurance has gone up, and we’re not getting reimbursement from the state to offset those costs.”
4. Fee exemptions and scholarships
Fee exemptions for financially eligible students are also state-required mandates, and with NSU’s growing enrollment rate, exemptions and scholarships increase as well. Fee exemptions and salaries may come from the general operating fund, but certain student fees are still reserved for other NSU services that benefit the students. “Our building use fee is a restricted fund that students pay as a part of their registration fees,” Sampeté said. “That goes toward doing repairs and maintenance on academic
“
You’re hitting a very, very soft spot for me,” said Henderson. “This—it kills me.” buildings.” Despite the recent increases, Jones said that NSU is in good fiscal health and ranks third in the UL system category. Additionally, Henderson said that NSU foresees no increase in tuition or fees in the Fall 2017 semester and is “extraordinarily sensitive to the cost of higher education.” “You’re hitting a very, very soft spot for me,” said Henderson. “This—it kills me.”