ANGLEA BALDWIN | staff writer
SARAH YORO | staff writer
As a part of Legacy Week, the panel discussion, “Where’s My Tuition Money Go?” was held last Thursday, March 5 in the Cougar Dome. The panel included chief financial officer Bob Johansen, chief of staff Deana Porterfield and other administrators. It addressed the University Annual Report on tuition and university expenses.
“Our goal of the administration is to have zero impact on the students. We’re not cutting back anywhere where it impacts the students,” Johansen said.
Students gathered to hear what panelists had to say as they answered pre-selected student questions provided by the associate student body (ASB) and the alumni relations office. Led by alumni relations associate director Ben Lions, panelists discussed the University Annual Report.
Pre-selected student questions covered topics such as expenditures, revenue, tuition and room and board increases.
Regarding expenditures, APU spends 42.6 percent of their revenue on instruction and academic support, 13.5 percent on scholarships and financial aid, 6.3 percent on student services, 7.7 percent on auxiliary services and 29.9 percent on institutional support.
According to Johansen, APU is a tuition-driven institution. Many private universities receive much of their revenue through endowments and grants.
For that reason, tuition is 79.2 percent of APU’s total revenue. Outisde of that, 1.2 percent comes from private gifts, grants, investments and gains, 14.5 percent from auxiliary services and 5 percent from other areas such as parking and service fees. With the added expenses of the new science building, pay increase for faculty and staff, and increased spending on utilities and insurance, the cost of tuition will increase next year by 4.3 percent.
However, the pay increase for the faculty and staff is misleading. Evidently, students are not the only ones suffering from the current economy.
“Health insurance for all of our employees—faculty and staff—are going up over nine percent this year and next year it could go up double digits,” Johansen said. “All of the increases are part of it and there will be a pay increase, it’s a minimal one. For a lot of our employees that will go away come Jan. 1 because of the increase of health insurance. So, their raise will disappear just because of the increase in health insurance. It’s almost like they’re not getting a pay raise, unfortunately.”
Another issue the panelists discussed was the e-mail President Wallace sent to students over Christmas break regarding financial troubles. Of the 10,000 e-mails sent out to undergraduate, graduate and adult studies students, 150 students replied stating they were struggling to make it back to APU.
Director of undergraduate and CAPS student financial services Todd Ross and his staff wanted to help these students. By working countless hours with these students, Ross and his staff were able to help 67 of the 150 students come back for the spring semester who would not have been able to.
“Just the fact that [Ross] put in extra time in corresponding with students and researching their situation was really admirable,” senior communication studies major Breanne Barnett said.
At the end of the presentation, students were able to question the panel.
“I think they did a great job addressing each question,” Barnett said. “I think it’s just a hard meeting to have because of how the economy is and how so many of us are being affected by it. So, I think [the panel] did a good job trying to be sensitive to everyone’s needs.”
By holding this discussion, the administration gave students the opportunity to learn where their tuition money goes.
“As a university we need to be transparent and honest with each other and that’s just another step in that,” senior graphic design major and ASB president Brice Myers said. “What the university is saying is that we value the tuition you pay to go here and because we value that, we want you to know how that money is being spent and how we are being good stewards of that.”
