In the weeks following the announcement that the Commerce School will increase its tuition, Commerce students are contemplating the effects of the extra charges.
The Board of Visitors announced Feb. 25 a new policy of differential tuition which will require all incoming Commerce students to pay an additional $3,000 per year. The tuition increase applies to both in-state and out-of-state students, beginning with students who applied to the Commerce School this year and will enter this fall.
"Differential tuition is something that is very common," Commerce Dean Carl Zeithaml said. He pointed out that many public and private schools implement differential tuition within their business schools or other specialized schools. "The concept is nothing new," he said.
Although some students expressed reservations about paying the extra cost, Zeithaml said so far "no students declined offers to the school based on differential tuition."
Third-year Commerce student Rose Zu said the increased tuition is a fair demand. Because Zu already is enrolled in the Commerce School, she will not have to pay the additional charge. But she noted that the added cost would not have affected her decision to enroll in the school.
"I don't think the price is significant enough to have stopped me from taking advantage of the opportunity," Zu said. She added the decision should come as no surprise given the state of the economy and the attendant budget cuts throughout the University.
The new tuition policy will help make up for multiple years of budget reductions within the commonwealth, Zeithaml said, pointing to budget reductions from the state during the last several years.
In addition to these cuts, Zeithaml said the Commerce School generally costs more to maintain. The school offers many value-added services to students, such as cutting-edge technology and an extensive career services office, and faculty salaries are often significantly higher than in other fields, Zeithaml said.
Although the school strives to operate as efficiently as possible, Zeithaml emphasized "there is only so much you can cut." Differential tuition is one way of asking students and their families to "participate in the higher cost of their education," Zeithaml said.
Of the parents he has heard from, Zeithaml said most understand the change and "recognize that they have sent their children here to get a world-class education and that it might cost extra."
Not all students accepted the change readily, however.
Second-year College student Arin Mitchell, who was recently admitted to the school, expressed some frustration. "To be honest, I don't understand why there was an increase." She still plans on accepting her offer of admission, though, placing her faith in the excellence of the services offered.
"I hope it is worth the extra tuition," Mitchell said. "Only time will tell; it depends on what they do with the extra money."
Initially, Zeithaml said, the funds will be used to support value-added services that offer direct benefits to students. Some of the money will go toward the career center to support its current offerings and expand its options for students.
Another portion will help maintain the technology within Rouss Hall, some of which will come off warranty soon, he said. The money also will be used to purchase and maintain the analytical software and databases students and faculty use for research.
Eventually, Zeithaml said he hopes to use the increased funding to expand the school's study abroad programs and to aid both faculty and students in conducting international studies and research.
Finally, the revenue increase will allow the school to invest and reinvest in the "extremely high quality, very loyal" faculty that it currently maintains. Zeithaml explained that about 80 percent of his budget consists of people, and he wants to do everything possible to avoid laying off faculty and staff.
"We've worked hard to build a tremendous faculty and staff and I don't want to lose them just because we can't invest in them," he said.
Ideally, the differential tuition policy will allow for increased quality of education and services that justify the additional cost to students.
"I don't mind paying it as long as I can see a benefit from it," second-year year College student Christine Kasper said. "In the end, it will be entirely worth it to have those resources." Like Mitchell, Kasper plans on accepting her offer to the Commerce School despite her reservations about the cost.
Zeithaml hopes to alleviate some of these reservations by allotting a portion of the new revenue to financial aid. He hopes that will ensure that every student still can take advantage of the opportunities the school has to offer. He said he hopes the new policy will encourage alumni and donor groups to focus on establishing scholarships, so the school can offer merit-based financial aid in addition to need-based grants.
"Typically, our students, when they graduate, are able to command a higher starting salary," Zeithaml added. Thus, he said, the additional cost of the Commerce School can be recouped fairly quickly.
First-year College student Masudur Rahman, who is planning to apply to the Commerce School, disagreed. "I don't think that's a fair argument," he said. "The field you are deciding to go into should have no bearing on how much tuition you are paying."
First years, in particular, were irked by the change. "Especially first-year pre-Commerce students were very upset," Rahman said. "They felt like it was unfairly targeting first-year [pre-]Commerce students." Rahman said he still plans to apply, but his decision "might be a little bit different" taking into account the differential tuition.
Zeithaml said the decision to move to a differential scale did not come lightly, but it seemed like a practical move given the models of other schools, the state of the economy and the overall drive to maintain the excellence of the Commerce School.
"We don't believe it is putting an undue burden on them," Zeithaml said, noting the value of the services offered and the lucrative opportunities that many students can move into. Rahman again disagreed, noting that Commerce students already face an expensive course load because of textbooks which are available only at the University bookstore. "To throw another $3,000 on top of that a semester is unreal," he said. "They should seriously consider repealing the decision"
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