Regional economy Education costs
Urbana University will not increase costs next school year in an effort to keep current students and attract new ones, University President Stephen Jones said.
Wittenberg and Cedarville universities will both increase tuition — by 3.75 percent and 4.49 percent, respectively — for the 2012-13 school year.
“What brought this about is this continuing economic situation that this region, really this nation, (is) in, but particularly this region,” Jones said.
Tuition increased at private, nonprofit colleges by an average of 4.6 percent nationwide in 2011-12, according to the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
Wright State University and Clark State Community College have not made tuition decisions for the next school year.
Keeping tuition costs low helps students stay in school, said Christina Bruun-Horrigan, director of Urbana’s university relations.
“Sadly, for these kids who have to leave because of finances, they’re immediately hit with a bill, without a marketable degree,” she said. “If we can keep those kids here ... they can get a marketable degree, so they can get a job.”
With a 3.75 percent increase, Wittenberg’s tuition will be $37,230 next year, up from $35,884 for the current school year. Cedarville’s 4.49 percent increase will bring tuition to $25,496 from $24,400.
“We try to provide the best value education,” said Mark Sullivan, chief marketing and communications officer for Wittenberg. “We believe a 3.75 (percent increase) is below the national average.”
At Urbana University, tuition will remain $20,986 a year for 2012-13, and room and board costs will not increase either.
“We want to give (students) the opportunity to give them a private education in a way that they, although they’ll have to struggle, they can afford,” said Jones.
Urbana will have to trim costs to stay in budget with no tuition increase, said Bruun-Horrigan.
“We have to tighten our belts,” she said. “That means we have to keep our costs at the 2011 level. That’s not easy to do, when everything is getting more expensive.”
Tuition at Urbana increased by 3.8 percent for the 2011-12 school year and 3.9 percent in 2010-11, according to the Institute for College Access and Success.
At Wittenberg, tuition increased 4.95 percent for this school year and 2.87 percent for the 2010-11 year.
Cedarville University’s tuition increases in previous years were 3.7 percent this year and 2.87 last year, said John Davis, director of public relations, noting that the increases were below averages.
“Our board of trustees remains committed to affordability for families, including moderate tuition increases and significant increases to institutional financial aid,” he said. “Cedarville’s financial aid investment has increased from $8.8 million in 2008-09 to a proposed $21.8 million in 2012-13.”
Finances are a concern for current students and a factor in college decisions, said Urbana University senior Josh Deans, president of the school’s Student Government Association.
“I think it’s a major concern,” Deans, an Urbana native, said. “When I was looking at going to college, cost was one of the main things that I looked at, and I think it’s increasingly becoming one of the number one things that students look at when they come to college.”
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