Lizzie Martinez
Tuition is up 6.9 percent.
However, more financial aid for continuing students will be available and more work-study positions and hours have been added.
“A school is like a business; annual increases for faculty pay must happen,” Dean of Enrollment Services Dan Preston said. He was also a member of the Budget Advisory Council.
Tuition has increased 5 to 6 percent each year. This is twice the rate of inflation for 2007, which was 2.8 percent, according to the Consumer Price Index.
Junior Geoff Young, the student representative on the BAC and the Board of Trustees, said tuition rises faster than inflation because each employee receives a raise for cost of living. The combined faculty pay increase, as well as increased operating costs for the college and money for new ventures, adds up to more than inflation.
“If you’re not growing, you’re dying,” Young said. “There’s not a lot of wiggle room (in the budget).”
The effort to minimize the rise in tuition also provides for growth at the college. It resulted in a $52.7 million budget. Almost $3.1 million of departmental requests were eliminated.
With the exception of faculty pay increases, no single request was granted in full, Young said. In the past, Linfield’s salaries haven’t fit into the median range of pay earned by faculty at 26 private colleges in the West. Full professors at Linfield lag the farthest be-hind the average.
Despite the 3 to 3.5 percent increase next year, the budget does not solve the problem. However, it does move salaries closer to the average.
“Students are the center of our mission, but faculty are the primary ones that drive our mission,” Preston said.
Students will enjoy increased response time from Linfield Campus Safety officers next year. The addition of another officer will provide for two officers on duty at all times during the academic year.
Financial aid was increased as well. Some of the money is specifically directed to help continuing students, not only incoming freshman. About 90 percent of Linfield students receive financial aid.
The new budget adds $100,000 for remodeling and renovation. The long-term view of the Board of Trustees is to increase the budget from $650,000 to $1 million per year for building upkeep.
The increase will pay to remodel Cook Hall and move either the anatomy or physiology lab into the building.
Pioneer Hall will undergo several transformations as well. KSLC 90.3’s old station will be converted to be used by the psychology department and the old theater will become a multipurpose room.
The school will hire new employees, including another Webmaster, a technology support officer, a psychiatrist in Student Services and a Biology Lab Coordinator.
The library received $50,000 to fund new books and periodicals.
All of these changes will help Linfield improve retention of current students, Glenn Ford, vice president for finance and administration and chief financial officer, said.
Though tuition seems high, it is conservative compared to other institutions, Young said. Linfield ranks eighth in tuition and fees out of 10 similar northwest colleges and universities.
Trustees spent time discussing strategic positioning of Linfield’s tuition costs, Young said. The recent fall in status from seventh to eighth came after Pacific University increased tuition 17.5 percent, or $3,934, last year.
Though the numbers are important, Preston said the change in status will not result in a sudden change in tuition.
“There is a perception of quality based on what you charge, whether it’s real or imagined,” Preston said. “People say to me, ‘You charge $7,000 less than Willamette; you can’t be as good as them.’ I would beg to differ.”
The school with the highest tuition, Reed College at $34,300, also has the highest endowment at $300 million, Preston said. Linfield’s endowment is $73 million.
An increase in Linfield’s endowment would not result in a cheaper tuition, but it would increase the flexibility of the BAC, Preston said. Currently, 80 percent of the budget is funded through tuition and fees.
