Emma Dejong

For SDSU students, a raise in tuition seems inevitable. “There will be some increase,” Jack Warner, executive director of the Board of Regents, said. “The only question is what magnitude.”

Jake Swensen, a freshman electrical engineering major, said he thinks the tuition at SDSU is “certainly affordable,” but he is not happy with a consistent increase.

“It might not seem like a lot right now, but after a few years, it adds up,” Swensen said.

Students’ Association President Brett Monson agreed SDSU’s tuition prices are cheap in comparison to other universities, and said he does “not feel like it’s unreasonable.”

“I definitely don’t like the idea of it being raised at all, though,” Monson said.

In recent years, tuition for undergraduates has gone up between 3.9 and 8.2 percent each fiscal year, increasing from $4,800 for undergraduate residents in 2005 to $6,783 in 2010. Warner said that they have “managed to avoid double digits,” and, as of March 26, he does not expect that to change.

“There are a lot of rumors out there, but I can tell you that the Regents will make every effort to minimize the impacting fee on students,” Warner said.

One factor contributing to the increased tuition is the proposed cuts the BOR will be getting from the state.

“The legislature seems determined to make those cuts,” Warner said.

Jeryann Coyle, a junior biology pre-optometry major, said she thinks tuition would not increase “if they just didn’t spend so much.”

Cassie Myrvik, a senior psychology pre-physical therapy major, agreed, saying too much money has been spent on recent construction.

“We’re just spending (funds) on all these new buildings,” Myrvik said. “I think it would be better to spend money on educational purposes.”

There are factors that will lessen the tuition cost, Warner said.”The good news about a recession is that inflation is minimal,” he said. “Some other parts of it are due to salary policy. The bad news is faculty and staff will go without raises, but at the same time it helps students’ tuition.”

Warner said that the final tuition numbers are still under consideration. Originally, the BOR was supposed to decide tuition at its March 31 and April 1 meeting in Aberdeen, but the board scheduled another meeting April 15 to decide final numbers.

“We felt we wanted more time to analyze the state budget,” Warner said.