In an e-mail to the Ohio University community, President Roderick J. McDavis announced that the Ohio University Board of Trustees has approved a 3.5 percent increase to the Athens Campus instructional and general fees for winter and spring quarters.
"Let me assure you that this was not an easy decision to make," McDavis said. "As you know, keeping college affordable and increasing accessibility for students is a top priority at Ohio University, one that has shaped our strategic choices and guided our decisions."
McDavis explained that the challenges faced by the state of Ohio are great and the final state budget enacted earlier this summer reflects a decrease in appropriations for higher education when compared with earlier proposals for the budget. To provide universities and colleges with some flexibility to respond to these changes, the biennial budget raised the cap on tuition and fee increases to 3.5 percent in FY 2010 and FY 2011.
The budget compromise also made changes in the Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG) program that will help some students and hurt others.
"At Ohio University, we are very concerned about how these changes will affect our students who depend on financial aid," McDavis said.
The overall effect of these changes is that the projected State Share of Instruction (SSI) funds upon which university officials developed the FY 2010 budget was reduced by $2.2 million from the Governor's budget proposal. At the same time, the support for Ohio University's neediest students fell by $1.7 million.
To view the full memo, visit www.ohio.edu/president/news/memo8-21-09.cfm.
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