The Michigan Review

Technology, Faculty Salaries Drive Tuition Upward

by Lee Bockhorn

Citing needed increases in technology funding and faculty salaries, the University Board of Regents approved a 3.9 percent tuition increase in July. They also approved an additional $30 per semester technology fee for students in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

By a 6-1 vote, the Regents approved the $890 million budget proposed by the administration - a $41 million increase over the previous year. In her presentation to the Board, Provost Nancy Cantor said that a need for additional spending in the areas of information technology, faculty salaries, University libraries, and ungergraduate education necessitated the increase, and the Regents concurred.

"Provost Cantor eloquently expressed the University's top priorities," said Regent Olivia Maynard (D-Goodrich).

Regent Andrea Fischer Newman (R-Ann Arbor) was the only member of the Board to vote no on the proposed budget. While approving of the administration's priorities, she disagreed with the tuition increase.

"Michigan is a great institution, and I want it to remain that way," she said. "I want it to be affordable. Therefore, I agree with the mission, [but] I do not agree with the way it is being funded." Instead of raising tuition, Newman said the administration should "look at ways to control cost at the University. It's too high."

University President Lee Bollinger cited inadequate levels of funding from the State of Michigan as one reason for the tuition increase. Bollinger said that since the U-M is a public institution, it has fewer resources available to compete with private institutions such as the Ivy League universities.

"We live in a very competitive environment in higher education," he stated. "In order to have the resources, we really need a 3.9 percent increase."

Cantor said that the new budget included a 4 to 5 percent increase in faculty salaries. She cited figures which showed that U-M professors, on average, earn $10,000 less than professors at other schools.

Who should bear the burden?

Is this latest tuition increase justified? An examination of the tuition increases of the 1990's at U-M suggests otherwise. In every year of the decade except 1997, tuition increases in percentage terms have been higher than the rate of inflation. (See graph) Few can argue with the University's efforts to retain a high-quality faculty and maintain U-M's position as leader in technology, yet the question remains: who should sacrafice the most for these goals, the students or the administration?

Given the skyrocketing increase in college costs over the last two decades, as well as the fact that a substantial portion of U-M's students are incurring some form of sizable debt to pay their tuition bills, the answer to that question would seem obvious. Unfortunately, though, no serious effort to address cost-containment in U-M's ever-enlarging bureaucracy appears imminent. For this to occur, the administration will have to realize that the primary purposes of this institution are research and teaching - not the administration of an almost $900 million fiefdom by bureaucrats perched high in the Fleming Building. Otherwise, the University will achieve its goals of a top-notch faculty and technological leadership, only to find that there are no longer any students who can afford to enjoy them. MR

This article was published in the 16 September 1998 edition of The Michigan Review (Volume 17, Number 1).
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