The university recently decided that construction of the new grand boulevard will be put on hold, merit pay for faculty will not proceed and the football and hockey programs will be cut.
To add more fuel to the fire, tuition will increase for the next fiscal year as all of these endeavors are put on hold.
According to William Lucas, vice president of Finance, there will be a meeting of student leaders today in the Barone Campus Center where the working budget for the 2003-2004 fiscal year will be presented at 3:30 p.m. There, Fairfield University President Rev. Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J. and Lucas will discuss and answer questions concerning the budget for the upcoming year.
“It is a fair assumption to say that tuition will be increasing next year,” Lucas said. “I haven’t seen a school that has released its numbers each year with it going down.”
Last year, the cost to attend Fairfield as an undergraduate student jumped an astounding 7.2 percent. This increase was triggered by multiple factors, including a need for competitive salaries. Pay rates are supposed to increase two percent in an effort to keep a competitive edge among other private colleges.
Since 1999, Fairfield’s tuition has increased 21.5 percent. Comparatively, Harvard University’s undergraduate tuition has risen 14.4 percent. Harvard’s increase for this fiscal year is 5.5 percent.
Overall, the cost to attend Fairfield for this year is $33,430 according to the university’s website. At Harvard the cost was $35,950.
Many students voiced angry opinions on the apparent increase here at Fairfield, which will be discussed in specifics today.
“If my tuition is going to increase then I would like the extra money to be spent wisely,” said Melissa Nowicki, ’05. “I came to Fairfield to study neuroscience and it got dropped as soon as I got here. And having to put students in forced triples is crazy.”
Other students agreed.
“If our tuition increase is so much more than Harvard’s,” said Melissa Hunt, ’06, “then we should be reaping the same benefits of a Harvard education.”
“I think it’s ridiculous,” said Sandra Costa, ’04. “I feel like we do not see where the money is going. I feel that the extra money should go straight to the teachers because they are the ones who deserve it.”
Merit pay, scheduled to be implemented this year with or without full faculty participation, was delayed by administrators due to budget shortfalls that also resulted in the disbandment of the football and hockey teams.
“With the situation of our economy, I feel that this type of thing couldn’t come at a worse time,” said Brennan Clark, ’06. “I hope the university realizes when they increase the tuition that some people are greatly affected by it.”
The recent disbandment of the football and hockey teams will hopefully help those who are in need, however.
The approximate total of $570,000 spent annually on the two programs will now be relocated within the university’s financial aid program for all eligible students as well as “higher priority athletic programs,” including men’s and women’s basketball, according to Kelley.
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