University Business - February 2012 - (Page 17)

and you have to pay your bills, or you have to change the program.” Although current students weren’t affected by the tuition increase, Grinnell officials nonetheless mentioned it in a letter to their parents. They also announced the increase in a press release and, Osgood says, “talked to anyone that would listen to us.” According to Osgood, the first year the increase was effective, Grinnell received record numbers of applications and “enrolled our strongest class ever.” Perhaps most importantly, “we never heard a single complain from a parent,” he adds. “We rolled the higher tuition through the classes as they entered. I’d recommend that to anyone if they’re thinking of a larger than normal increase.” Hot Button Coolers With access to higher education a topic of increasing interest to legislators, tuition became something of a hot-button public policy issue over the last several years. In response, the U.S. Department of Education launched the College Affordability and Transparency Center, a website that aggregates cost data from the country’s colleges and universities, to give parents, prospective students, and others easy access to tuition information. Among the options for users of the site are listings of schools with the highest percentage tuition increases. A 39 percent increase over a recent three-year period landed Jamestown College (N.D.) on the list of private, nonprofit, four-year institutions with the largest increases. According to Polly Peterson, Jamestown’s vice president for institutional advancement, a one-year tuition adjustment was to blame for the school’s placement on the DoE’s list. Outreach to parents and students emphasized that the increase would be applied to incoming students only and that the funding would be used to upgrade the college’s academic programs. Jamestown officials conducted student focus groups and worked with the student senate, which “helped advocate for the increase,” notes Peterson. The college told its stakeholders it was already so affordable that the increase—while remarkable in terms of percentage—was not nearly as impactful when it came to actual dollars. “We’re substantially less than the average price of private Economic Realities In 2010, Virginia Commonwealth University hiked tuition for in-state residents by 24 percent to make up for plunging state support. The fallout reached the statehouse, where Governor Bob McDonnell, calling rising tuition rates “unacceptable,” yanked $17 million of state funding, an amount equal to half of VCU’s tuition increase, as a punitive measure. Students and parents, though, weren’t nearly as upset as their governor was, according to Pam Lepley, VCU’s executive director of university relations. “We had very little pushback,” she says, “because we had had very early and open discussions about it.” The messages VCU delivered emphasized that despite its status as a major research institution, the university was among the least expensive in Virginia. Among the consequences of that were fewer faculty, larger class sizes, fewer course sections, and fewer resources to help students ‘We had very little pushback because we had had graduate on time. The tuition increase was posi- very early and open discussions about [the tuition tioned as a way to remedy these shortcomings. And increase].’ even with the 24 percent increase, the school’s new tuition put it in “the middle of the pack” in the state, —Pam Lepley, Virginia Commonwealth University with smaller liberal arts schools charging more to attend, according to Lepley. She characterizes the university’s outreach to its stakeholders colleges,” she says. “We didn’t see a lot of pushback because we’re as “grass-roots.” Tactics included meeting with students, faculty, very affordable and offer a terrific value.” and staff, enlisting alumni, and communicating with important Helping to deliver that message was the school’s president, external constituencies, such as community leaders, the media, Robert S. Badal, who was in front of students and alumni to and government officials. Throughout the process, Lepley notes, explain why Jamestown was making the moves it was, Peterson VCU was careful to keep its messaging tactful. says. “I don’t think there’s anything we wish we had done differ“We fully understood the position the state was in,” she says. ently. From a communications perspective, we did all the things “It’s a terrible, terrible economy. The state has unbelievable de- we needed to do to communicate the message in such a way that mands, and education is one of the few discretionary items they people were comfortable with the decision we made.” have that they can cut back on. This wasn’t a case of positioning Indeed, while tuition communication can come from the the state as evil. This was a case of ‘times are tough and this is how board, from enrollment management, or from public relations, we have to deal with it.’ ” many say presidential involvement and visibility are crucial. Virginia’s General Assembly eventually restored the $17 mil“The decisions that lead to the tuition proposal come through lion McDonnell had withheld, and Lepley says the controversy the president, and the president needs to take responsibility,” served as “a blessing in disguise.” Muhlenberg’s Helm says. “It certainly opened up the dialogue with the state, so that Osgood wishes he had been more visible in explaining the was helpful,” she says. “And we can see now that the McDonnell need to raise tuition as much as his college did during his tenure administration really puts higher ed on the front burner.” as president. universitybusiness.com February 2012 | 17 http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - February 2012

University Business - February 2012
Contents
Editor's Note
College Index
Ad Index
Behind the News
Financial Aid
Campus CFO
Education Gateways
5 Things Administrators Must Know About E-commerce Now
There’s an App for That
Internet Technology
End Note

University Business - February 2012

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