Southern officials inform students where their tuition money really goes

Periodically, Southern University students are subjected to small tuition and fee increases.
The increases are never more than two or three percentages, yet students, in state and out-of-state, feel that the increases are unjust and often times unnecessary.
“They raised tuition last year and this year, ” said Bobbye Matthews, a junior mechanical engineering major from Baton Rouge. “Where’s Lacumba? Where’s the alumni house?”
“I thought they were supposed to close the stadium,” he said. “I could see if we were doing something wrong with the money, but we’re not even doing anything wrong. Southern is just sitting on it.”
According to Dr. Edward Jackson, chancellor of Southern University’s Baton Rouge campus, tuition is raised to supplement constant cost adjustments and to match university expenditures.
“The only two revenue sources for colleges and universities are state allocated funding, and tuition and fees,” Jackson said. “We use the tuition money for funding operations, as the cost of business operations increase every year.”
“There are increased adjustments with utilities, increases of food costs, increases in just about everything we do,” he said.
Jackson also dismissed any stories or rumors that student monies would be used to house and purchase another live mascot.
“We would never ask the students, or demand that student tuition money, be used to purchase another Lacumba,” Jackson said. “The money for Lacumba will come from private dollars to rebuild the habitat.”
Jackson said the delay in the university’s purchase of another live mascot isn’t because of difficulties with finding another animal, the delay is in the construction of a new habitat to house the jaguar.
“The problem lies in constructing a larger living space,” Jackson said. “It’ll take a little bit longer, but we should have the money before the end of the academic year. It’ll be about $300,000 of private monies.”
Besides classes, student tuition, costs and fees are broken down by three categories, and are further broken down according to part time, full time and off campus uses.
According to the university’s purchasing department, the following dollar amounts are an assessment of student fees for fall 2006.
The general fund fee covers tuition for a student carrying twelve hours or more. They include tuition, at $1, 078.50, a recreation fee of $3, student ID fee of $5, a breakage fee of $1.50, an operational fee of $62 and an academic excellence fee of $120, totaling $1,270 for general funds.
Dedicated fees included building usage of $10, an academic enhancement fee of $25, an athletic track fee of $4, an athletic facilities improvement fee of $25, special events fee of $10, intramural complex fee of $54, carrier fee of $20, technology fee of $60 and an energy surcharge of $48, bringing the total dedicated fees to $256.
The remaining fees are student uses, with the health and Student Union both totaling $40 a piece, the yearbook and student insurance fees are both $15, an athletic fee of $115, The Southern Digest costs $12, Men and Women’s Federation fees are a one time $2, the student magazine is $5 and student senate fees are $10.
The remaining fees are student activities, student organizational travel, mascot, class, Miss Southern, student loan, social activities and a lyceum fee of .99, all total $20.01, for a grand total of $275 for student usage fees.
Combined, the three categories total to $1,801, the total cost of tuition this semester.
Many students are still unhappy with the way their tuition is being allocated despite the tuition breakdown.
“I wish we could do more positive things with the money,” says Printez Trusclair, a junior mechanical engineering major from Maringouin. “Something that will enrich and improve students. Something that would better prepare them for the world”
A statement that junior political science major Carey Ash of Baton Rouge agrees with.
“It’s true that we have the motivational speaker series, but they are usually held at the 11 o’clock hour, a time when most students are in class, ” said the chairman of the Student Government Association’s Finance Committee. “Students should not be the only source of SGA revenue.”
“We (finance committee, Senate, and SGA) should actively recruit corporate sponsors,” Ash said. “We rarely see them during homecoming week, or games.”
Printez does admit, however, that if Southern were to raise tuition fees again, he’d be willing to pay, but only if “it’s a worthy, feasible cause.”