USC Aiken sees tuition increase

The new USC Aiken freshman class will bring in about 620 students - just 20 less than the university record, despite a six percent tuition increase.

The tuition for the fall semester will be $4,187 for in-state students, a $287 increase. Out-of-state students will pay $8,271, up $455.

The increases were approved after the latest state budget cuts, resulting in $1 million in cuts, said Chancellor Dr. Tom Hallman. The university has not filled a number of existing vacancies and filled tenure-track faculty with non-tenure positions. Utility savings have been part of the budget-solving solutions.

Ongoing state budget reductions have to led to appropriations that are only a small part of university revenue, Hallman said - about 11 percent of overall USCA revenue and 19 percent of direct education spending.

"It's amazingly frustrating," said Hallman. "I believe we're in the business of trying to reshape the future for this region and the state. We can only do that with educated people - educated citizens who are key attributes to the welfare of the state. We are currently 39th in the country in that area in terms of the percentage of adults over 25 with a bachelor's degree."

Yes, there's a serious problem with revenue in South Carolina, Hallman said. However, he doesn't see from policymakers any sense of what they consider as the most essential targets for budgetary allocations. Education should be part of the solution, he said, but he gets no impression that difficult budget decisions are made with that understanding.

What doesn't enter the discussion either, said Hallman, is the cost on the university's faculty and staff.

"They might have had a one percent salary increase two years ago, and there were a couple of years before that, too, where they didn't get a raise," he said. "They're working harder, doing more work for the same amount with fewer colleagues. Their salaries are out of line with their peers in the region and across the country. That shows up when we have to replace people."

Hallman fully expects another budget cut in 2010-11. The next place to save money would be to put even more students in classrooms, he said, yet that conflicts with USCA's mission of building relationships with students in a smaller college setting and smaller classes.

The chancellor bristles at legislators who contend that colleges have simply shifted all their costs to tuition. Salaries have remained stagnant even as the cost of living has gone up. USCA has made every effort to reduce its budget, Hallman said.

"But we have studiously tried to avoid furloughs," he said. "Pay cuts on top of no raises is a bad practice, not the way to solve the problem."

Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.