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Trustees hear SIUE benchmarking on tuition and fees; no proposal yet
Summary
Board reviewed tuition and fee benchmarks, demographic pressures, a MAP grant estimation gap and possible student fee proposals; trustees were told a formal tuition proposal will appear at the April meeting.
The Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees received an initial briefing on tuition, fees and student aid at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, President Mahoney said, with no formal proposal presented at the February meeting.
Chancellor Minor told trustees the briefing was a benchmark exercise intended to show SIUE’s tuition and fee position relative to other public institutions and to frame conversations about affordability and quality. The administration said it will return with formal proposals at the April meeting.
"This is really just a benchmark to show you where we are on tuition and fees," Chancellor Minor said. He warned trustees that demographic changes and intensified competition for students are affecting how families evaluate colleges and that SIUE must weigh affordability against maintaining program quality.
Minor said roughly 30%–36% of SIUE students are Pell-eligible and that nearly half of SIUE graduates leave without student loan debt. He also described an administrative issue involving the Illinois MAP grant: ISAC’s midyear adjustment after an estimation error reduced awards and left the university with an estimated $450,000 that it will need to cover for commitments already made to students.
Officials walked trustees through comparisons of tuition, fees and room-and-board. The presentation showed SIUE is near the lower end of tuition and fee lists among comparable public institutions and noted room-and-board estimates of about $12,000 on the slide. Board members asked about textbook access and student fees; administrators said Follett’s proposed textbook fee would be $50 per credit hour with an opt-out, and that a student mental-health fee is under active discussion on campus.
President Mahoney and other trustees discussed state funding and the funding formula used by Illinois. Mahoney said the system analyzed the formula’s treatment of "equitable student share" and found the formula’s estimates exceed some institutions’ actual net tuition revenue. He told the board that, on recent numbers, the formula overestimated revenue for several institutions by amounts reaching tens of millions of dollars.
No vote or formal action was taken. Trustees were told the administration will continue consultations with student groups, faculty and other constituencies and will present any specific tuition or fee proposals at the April meeting.
