In the fall, Rhode Island’s public-college students will find their education a little more expensive. The fiscal year 2018 state budget included across-the-board tuition and fee increases at University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and the Community College of Rhode Island.
URI Senate President Ryan Buck, of Salem, N.H., said students may be “slightly caught off guard [because] a lot of times [tuition increases] aren’t publicized,” except in their bills.
Increases range from 7 percent (in-state URI, all CCRI), to 6.9 percent (RIC in-state), 5 percent (RIC out-of-state), 4 percent (out-of-state URI), but Rhode Island isn’t the only state shuddering from the cost of public education.
Speaking to Boston radio station WGBH in July, University of Massachusetts President Marty Meehan said without more state support, “we ought to consolidate” the public system.
URI, RIC and CCRI data show tuition and fee increases were frozen three of the last five years but when hikes do occur, administrators attempt to make them painless.
Between fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2018, URI in-state undergraduate annual tuition and fee increases averaged 2.1 percent and the average out-of-state increase was 1.4 percent.
In those years, RIC saw an average annual tuition and fee increase of 3 percent for in-state students and 3.2 percent for out-of-staters.
CCRI data shows more than 70 percent of its students are part time. Between fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2018, part-time, in-state tuition and part-time, out-of-state tuition increased an average 2.6 percent annually. CCRI fees are calculated on a piecemeal basis depending on the types and number of courses in which a student enrolls.
Addressing possible UMass consolidation, Donald H. DeHayes, URI provost and vice president of academic affairs, said that “wasn’t a model for higher education in Rhode Island.”
Each state’s public system consists of three types of institutions, he said: research universities, comprehensive and community colleges.
In line with Meehan’s sentiment, albeit from a “biased perspective,” DeHayes said “the best move for the Rhode Island higher education system is to increase state funding to tuition.”
He said the administration is “very sensitive to the cost of a URI education,” adding URI currently spends close to $100 million on financial aid each year.
DeHayes credits URI’s cost-saving measures with increased popularity during his tenure. From his count, there were roughly 14,000 freshman applications when he started in 2007. That number, according to URI data, broke 22,000 in spring 2017 – “the highest ever in our history,” he said.
‘The best move ... is to increase state funding to tuition.’
DONALD H. DEHAYES, URI provost and vice president of academic affairs
David Gingerella, RIC’s vice president of administration and finance, concurs, saying even with the 7 percent increase, RIC has the “most affordable in-state tuition” among its New England peers.
To ease the increase, Gingerella said $500,000 was included in the financial aid budget to “accommodate students with the greatest need.”
Sara Enright, vice president for student affairs and chief outcomes officer at CCRI, said she too tries to keep education affordable, but the arena in which she operates is one of “increasing costs.”
“We want to have tuition increases as infrequently as we can but also need a system that is sufficiently funded to deliver a quality education,” she said.
Enright feels “comfortable” with the recent 7 percent increase, which totals $189 per credit (in-state) and $561 (out-of-state), saying: “This is the best way we could strike a balance between meeting students’ needs and delivering an affordable education.”
One reason why Enright was accepting of the recent increases is because the majority (55 percent) of CCRI’s student body receives federal Pell grants – financial aid awards of $5,920 per student – which, for some, cover all expenses.
CCRI data shows more than 45 percent of incoming students’ expenses will be covered by Pell grants.
Fees have been a historical hindrance for students at CCRI, she said, and this year many were consolidated or abolished. CCRI previously required two upfront fees – a $20 application fee and a $40 placement-testing fee – what Enright called “an out-of-pocket cost that could be a barrier to [enrollment].”
Adding insult to injury, she said, there was also a $40 graduation fee, “the last thing you want when you’ve [finished] your classes.”
All three were abolished this year.
Moving forward, Enright holds out “tremendous hope” the Rhode Island Promise scholarship program, touted by Gov. Gina M. Raimondo to increase the education of the state’s workforce, will make public education more affordable. She expects the opportunity will increase enrollment by 200.
Starting this year, 2017 Rhode Island high school graduates and GED recipients are eligible for full tuition at CCRI if they enroll full time, maintain a 2.5 GPA and earn 30 credits each year. CCRI scheduled two enrollment days, Aug. 10 and Aug. 17, for students seeking entrance through the program.
“The state keeps talking about wanting to have a more-educated workforce,” said Enright. “[This] will be a significant lever to help us do that.”