Tuition rises again

Administration releases raised rates

Milligan College’s budget committee released the final figures for the 2005-2006 total cost rates, showing a 4.9 percent increase over the current year’s figures with the total cost of next year’s attendance being $21, 990, the college’s smallest increase in the last seven years.

“An increase is necessitated each year due to increasing operating costs, such as health insurance, utilities, employee salaries, etc.,” said Associate Vice President for Business and Finance Chris Rolph who also acts as chairman of the budget committee. “Colleges and universities face the same operational and personnel costs as do all business enterprises and are subject to the same market increases in expenditures for providing services.”

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the national average cost of attendance at a four year private institution in 2004-05 was $30,295. Even with the increase, Milligan’s total costs are still $9,000 lower than other similar colleges.

“(The increase) is well below the national average of 6 percent for private colleges and 10.5 percent for four year public universities,” Rolph said.

According to Associate Vice President for Communications Lee Fierbaugh, Milligan’s total costs have increased about 4 percent to 7 percent each year. The increases average about $1,000 each fiscal year.

“We try hard to control those rising costs and keep our increases to a minimum,” Fierbaugh said.  
The college’s administration has received minimal feedback concerning the raised total costs.

“The few comments we have heard have been positive that we have kept the increase as minimal as possible considering rising operational costs,” Fierbaugh said.

  The budget committee, which acts as an advisory committee to President Don Jeanes who is responsible for the college’s budget, began meeting last September to plan the costs, as well as the college’s budget, for the 2005-2006 fiscal year. The tuition rates were then presented to the Board of Trustees who approved the rates at the end of October.

“The budgeting processes, as well as the process of setting tuition and granting financial aid, are all intricate systems but precise ones,” Rolph said. “We work very carefully and try to control costs while maintaining quality. We make good use of the resources that have been entrusted to us.”

According to Rolph, the college’s budget for the 2005-2006 fiscal year will be around $20 million. The budget committee is currently working on drafts of the budget. A complete draft will be finalized in April and then approved by the Board of Trustees at the end of April.

However, Milligan does not survive solely on tuition paid by students. Rolph stated that only 50 percent of the college’s operating expenses come from tuition.

“Each year thousands of alumni, friends, churches and even our own faculty and staff stand in the gap to make up the difference between student tuition and the actual cost of attendance for our students,” Rolph said. “Without this support, the cost of attending Milligan College would be significantly higher.”