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Legislators OK higher ed plans as part of $9.5 billion state budget Christopher Anderson The METRQPOLITAN
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Students returning to Metro in the fall will pay one of the lowest resident tuition increases in recent history - close to $I per credit hour. That increase is the result of a 1.5 percent tuition hike given final approval by the Colorado legislature on Tuesday. Non-residents wiJI pay no more than $9.25 more per credit hour for a 3.5 percent increase, according to officials. in Metro's budget office. Metro's tuition, however, still must be approved by its governing board, the Trustees for the State Colleges in Colorado. That bottom line means students during the 1997-98 school year who take 12 or less credits will likely pay a •INSIDE: total of $69 per Student credit hour for fees resident tuition increasing and $277.25 per credit hour for -Page 3 non-resident tuition. Prices per credit hour drop for those who take more than 12 credits a semester. Although the 1.5 percent tuition increase is low, Student Government Assembly President William Coker is not impressed. "Unfortunately, the cost !Jf education is still growing," Coker said. "The only thing we can control is how much and how fast, and some of that depends on how fast the state's economy is growing . ... Here at Metro, it is not as stiff as it could be other places." The tuition rate is part of a $9.5 billion state budget that includes financial aid totals of $30.4 million for need-based grants, which is a 12 percent increase; $12.7 million for work-study, which is a 3.8 percent increase and $12.7 million for merit-based grants, which is a 3.1 percent increase. Tuition is increased at the rate of
inflation, which was at 3.5 percent this year. Lawmakers, however, dedicated $4.9 million of general fund money to lower resident tuition to I .5 percent, said Robin Nolan, executive director for the Colorado Student Association, a group that lobbies on behalf of college students. This year's inflation rate is low compared to last year's 4.3 percent and extremely low compared to the I0 percent rate of 15 years ago, Nolan said. The budget, also known as "the Jong bill," now awaits a decision by Gov. Roy Romer. Metro students would have paid an additional 4 percent in tuition on top of the increase for inflation, but members of the Metro Student Government Assembly and Colorado Student Association successfully shot down that hike. That means Metro students would have paid tuition increases of 5.5 percent for residents - $3.75 more per credit hour
- and 7.5 percent for non-residents $20.10 more per credit hour. Metro President Sheila Kaplan sai<j the special 4 percent increase, which would have generated approximately $900,000, would have been spent on improvements in academic advising and mentorship programs. The special 4 percent increase would have been the third phase of a three-year plan to raise tuition 12 percent. Past student government administrations approved the first two phases, believin"g it would improve academic quality. The state budget also gives $14.2 million to the Auraria Higher Education Center for the design and construction of a new clliSsroom building to be built on lot G, the visitor's parking lot near St. Cajetan 's Center. The building will be divided into space for a cultural arts center and regular classrooms. Construction is scheduled to begin in a year, said Dean
Wolf, executive vice president for administration for Auraria. The money covers only the beginning phases of construction. Auraria officials are counting on the _legislature to pay nearly $15 million through future budgeting for the later phases, Wolf said. Auraria also received $2.6 million for maintaining existing structures and equipment. That includes repairing or replacement of: •mechanical systems in the arts building - $871 ,000 •campus roofs - $527,700 • recreational fields, the second phase -$421,000 • Historic Ninth Street Park offices, the second phase - $313,200 • campus- roads and walkways - · $295,000 • fire protection systems, campus buildings - $221,600
Jump ·to it . Kim Schuchard (left), Kayla Schuchard and Holly New of the Jumping Eagles jump aerobics team performed · during the Campus Recreation Association Health and Fitness Day.
Eric Drummond/ The METROPOLITAN
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