Karah-Leigh Hancock
Josh Colwell
The Spectator
kphancoc@valdosta.edu
jocolwell@valdosta.edu

The majority of VSU students will be digging a little deeper in their pockets beginning next semester. Thanks to the change in the “Fixed for Four” policy, VSU will be raising the tuition fee anywhere from five to 20 percent beginning in the Fall 2009 semester.
Students who began their career at VSU in the fall of 2006 have been under a program known as “Fixed for Four.” This program allowed students to pay a fixed tuition rate for four years.
With the upcoming change in tuition programs, students who begin their career at VSU during the fall of 2009 and later will be subject to paying varying tuition rates throughout their college career. Even students who began in the fall of 2006 will be subject to new rates if their college career extends past four years.
Douglas Tanner, VSU Director of Financial Aid, estimated that the current tuition could increase by as much as 20 percent.
However, Dr. Patrick J. Schloss, President of VSU, expects tuition to increase at about a five percent margin, which VSU has become accustomed to over the last five years.
The need for a higher tuition comes from the ongoing recession, a shortage of tax revenue from the state and drastically reduced funding for the state-wide university system as a whole.
Funding for the University System of Georgia has decreased by more than $127 million, and VSU is losing approximately $10 million with the cut.
“The university is simply trying to continue at the current level of operations,” Tanner said. “The increase in tuition will prevent further cuts in staff and classes.”
Dr. Schloss offered insight into how the process is expected to be handled.
“Tuition will be reviewed annually and subject to change based on the cost of higher education (inflation in salaries, utilities, transportation, deferred maintenance, etc.),” he said.
Tray Williams, a senior broadcast journalism major, is expecting to graduate next December and will be affected by the rising tuition.
“It is a good thing they are thinking of the staff here, but it might make it harder for me and other students to stay in school,” Williams said.
Andrew Calhoun, a health and physical education major, agrees in large part with Williams.
“Increasing the tuition may cause the school to lose money in the long run. Some people may not be able to afford the tuition and may not come to VSU.  If tuition continues to increase every year, students may have to take out larger loans and be forced into deeper debt,” Calhoun said.
“The goal of the University is to maintain smaller classes,” Tanner said.
The increased tuition could generate enough revenue to add up to 15 classes, opening up nearly 500 seats for new students to fill.
The Board of Regents is primarily responsible for the changes. At their recent April meeting, the proposal, which has been around for a while, was voted on and passed.
The new plan will also call for students to take 15 credit hours in order to be considered a full time student.
The HOPE Scholarship does offer a bright spot to the news of this change.
HOPE recipients will be assisted with the rising tuition cost, but the scholarship will not cover the $100 special institutional fee that the USG has implemented.