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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend August 9, 2005 SOU students face cost hike By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune After years of double-digit tuition increases, a newly approved state plan offers students at Southern Oregon University a reprieve with a tuition increase of just 3 percent for the coming year. However, when combined with student-approved fees to provide money for technology upgrades and activities and athletics, SOU students still will face one of the steepest cost increases around the state. Tuition and fees for a full-time SOU student for the 2005-06 school year will climb 6.5 percent to $5,004 from $4,698 the previous year. Tuition alone for 2005-06 will be $3,720 for a full-time student, up from $3,609 the previous year. The average increase in tuition and fees for all universities in the state system is 4.3 percent. Both Southern Oregon University and Oregon Institute of Technology have larger than average increases in part because both schools have relatively low tuition and fees, said Di Saunders, director of communications for the Oregon University System. Advertisement "They have a smaller base, so any increase is a larger percentage," she said. SOU has the second-lowest tuition of all state-funded universities. Western Oregon University has the lowest and OIT ranks third cheapest. "We are a good buy," said James Main, SOU’s vice president for finance and administration. He said SOU officials were pleased that the governor and Legislature found a way to cap tuition increases for the state’s university system as a whole at 3 percent, a fraction of the 10 percent increase seen in each of the past two years. In the past five years, average tuition and fees at Oregon universities have jumped 46 percent as state funding failed to keep pace with enrollment. At SOU tuition and fees climbed 13 percent last year and 8 percent in each of the two previous years. This year’s increase in fees was requested by students to meet their needs, Main said. A student fee committee increased a mandatory technology fee $8, to $58 a term, to improve access to computers. The committee agreed to a $54 per term increase in an incidental fee that provides money for student activities and sports, pushing it to $212. The additional funds are earmarked for the athletics budget, officials reported. A health fee that funds the student health center also increased slightly to $113.25 each term. Students also pay a $45 building fee, which remained unchanged. "Tuition and fees are separate, so each campus has some autonomy," Main said. "We are doing what students asked. They said they were willing to pay more fees for certain things they wanted." Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail SOU students face cost hike ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy online casino Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Rogue Valley Travel Reservationstogo Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Natto Kinase Nattokinase Casino Gambling Sites Budget Website Templates Investments & Loans Advertisement s