University President Grey Dimenna, Esq., informed students that annual tuition will increase 3.85 percent to $38,879, beginning with the summer 2019 sessions, in an email announcement his office sent ahead of the spring recess.
This most recent increase in tuition is the third consecutive year in which the increase was nearly four percent.
With 94.1 percent of the University’s operating budget tuition-based, Monmouth is largely dependent on student enrollment in order to cover expenses.
For the 2018-2019 academic year, the University’s operating budget is $178,425,000,\ with an endowment of about $100,970,000, as of June 30, 2018.
“Unfortunately, like everything expenses go up,” said Mary Anne Nagy, Vice President for Student Life and Leadership Engagement. “We have to be able to cover those increases and the only way we can do it is with tuition increase and raising more money, especially for scholarships.” Nagy suggested that a solution to increasing annual tuition could be to cut in areas like printing on campus.
According to University estimates, 96 percent of students receive some form of financial aid, demonstrating the financial burden that costly tuition has students, prompting them to apply for student loans and need-based scholarships.
“We are deeply aware of the financial sacrifices that you make to afford your education and earn your degree, and we remain committed to your success as a student,” says Dimenna in the email.
Financial aid, which includes scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study employment, can come from a variety of sources, including the federal or state government, the University itself, or private outside sources. According to Claire Alasio, awards are given on the basis of either academic achievement, financial need, “some other special characteristic”, or a combination.
In the most recent academic year, more than $66 million in institutional scholarship assistance was awarded to Monmouth students from all sources. That figure represents an 11 percent increase from the prior year. Efforts like the “Together We Can,” a campaign with the goal to raise $15 million in gifts and pledges by June 30, 2019, intend to create and provide more financial resources to students through scholarship.
The campaign has already made progress toward reaching its goal. Current development, as of March 12, stands at $13.1, about 87 percent of the way to reaching the University’s goal.
The University budget must be balanced each year to meet the increases and decreases in costs as well as fund projects, staff, and activities. The budget will then determine the amount that tuition will increase. The budget is calculated based on a comprehensive budget model that has been followed for the past 25 years. The model allows the members of the committee to evaluate the sources of revenue, capital projects, and expenses for the coming year, and available amounts for each department.
The budget model is based on a three-year plan that allows the board to plan financially for the coming three years. The University costs are then subtracted from the revenues and the remaining balance is distributed to each department. The costs in the University differ each year, causing the tuition increases. Costs such as staff salaries, benefits, and medical insurance increase each year. The purpose of the three-year budget program is to prepare for future projects that the University will need.
“President Dimenna gave a presentation to the Faculty Council on the budget in February. This was first such presentation to the faculty in recent history and opportunity for faculty to ask questions. Increase in tuition was one of the topics,” said Marina Vujnovic, Ph.D., Chair of the Faculty Council. “He explained that the Board’s concerned about tuition increase and worked to keep it under four percent. Faculty appreciated that concern but also expressed that strategy of tuition increase is unsustainable.”
Yearly increase of four percent amounts to 16 percent over four years. Students increasingly work two jobs and go to school full time. Vujnovic noted that financial uncertainty and increasing debt is creating adverse effects on students’ stress levels.
“I already see it amongst my students. When the message was received by the students I was just wrapping up my class and students were getting visibly upset. Some on the edge of tears,” she said. “One students said that she simply can’t afford it and she fears she won’t be able to continue at Monmouth.”
“As a college student it’s never nice to hear that tuition is going up. As an education major, my future job is one of the lowest paying jobs in the world so increasing tuition would only mean that my student loan amount would increase,” said Alexis Borrino, a junior education student.
Borrino also suggested that the University disclose expenditures in order to show students where there money is being allocated. “Since Monmouth did increase the tuition I feel like it would be ideal for them to give us a rough outline of where this extra money is going because it can be kind of skeptical sometimes,” she said.
“I don’t really see any changes, financially, in my program so it would be nice to see a plan as to what this increase in tuition is going to do for my major/education department,” Borrino added.
The University has experienced significant growth in administrative positions in recent years, starting in 2014 with the creation of five vice provost positions and two associate vice provost positions, which either did not exist before or which previous responsibilities had previously been assumed by a dean. In the 2017 year, administrative salaries accounted for $4,526,406, according to the University’s IRS form 990.
“We are deeply aware of the financial sacrifices that you make to afford your education and earn your degree, and we remain committed to your success as a student,” says Dimenna in the email.
Financial aid, which includes scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study employment, can come from a variety of sources, including the federal or state government, the University itself, or private outside sources. According to Claire Alasio, M.Ed, Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management and Director of Financial Aid, awards are given based on either academic achievement, financial need, some other special characteristic, or a combination.
There are about 4,400 undergraduates who received a Monmouth University grant or scholarship for the current academic year.
In 2016-17 and 2017-18, it was 4,600 and 4,500 respectively. According to Alasio, the very small degree of variation is explained by the size of the last two entering freshman classes, which have both been smaller as well as retention.
The average Monmouth University grant scholarship package for 2017-18 was $14,378 and for 2018-19, it is just about $15,000. Alasio said that the average is expected to, “creep up a little bit next year, but nothing significant.”
She explained that for about 35 percent of the undergraduate students, the tuition increase would be partially offset by the annual increase to federal and state grant awards.
According to Alasio, there has been a $270 increase to the maximum federal Pell grant, which is a need-based financial aid program.
In addition, while NJ has not finalized an amount yet, Monmouth could expect a $300 increase to the maximum Tuition Aid Grant (TAG) grant award.
She concluded that the net effect of the tuition increase for more than one third of the undergraduates would be about $900.
“As tuition increases, so does financial need,” Alasio said. “As such, I would expect that there will be some more students who meet the criteria for the grant or who don’t currently receive the maximum award and will qualify for a larger grant.”
Tim McCahery, a senior marketing student, has required some form of financial aid in addition to having a scholarship for all four of his years at Monmouth. He said that the increase in tuition during this time has affected his need for more financial aid.
“If they’re raising the tuition $1-2,000 every year, I owe about another $8,000 by the end of college,” he explained. “I think that [the increase in tuition] should be shown and reflected in your academic scholarship.”
In the most recent academic year, more than $66 million in institutional scholarship assistance was awarded to Monmouth students from all sources. That figure represents an 11 percent increase from the prior year. Efforts like “Together We Can,” a campaign with the goal to raise $15 million in gifts and pledges by June 30, 2019, intend to create and provide more financial resources to students through scholarship.
The campaign has already made progress toward reaching its goal. Current development, as of March 12, stands at $13.1, about 87 percent of the way to reaching the University’s goal.
The University budget must be balanced each year to meet the increases and decreases in costs as well as fund projects, staff, and activities. The budget will then determine the amount that tuition will increase.
The budget is calculated based on a comprehensive budget model that has been followed for the past 25 years. The model allows the members of the committee to evaluate the sources of revenue, capital projects, and expenses for the coming year, and available amounts for each department.
The budget model is based on a three-year plan that allows the board to plan financially for the coming three years. The University costs are then subtracted from the revenues and the remaining balance is distributed to each department. The costs in the University differ each year, causing the tuition increases. Costs such as staff salaries, benefits, and medical insurance increase each year. The purpose of the three-year budget program is to prepare for future projects that the University will need.
“President Dimenna gave a presentation to the Faculty Council on the budget in February. This was the first such presentation to the faculty in recent history and opportunity for faculty to ask questions. Increase in tuition was one of the topics,” said Marina Vujnovic, Ph.D., Program Director of Corporate and Public Communication and an associate professor of communication.
“He explained that the Board is concerned about tuition increase and the board has worked to keep it under four percent. Faculty appreciated that concern but also expressed that the strategy of tuition increase is unsustainable,” she continued.
Yearly increase of 4 percent amounts to 16 percent over four years. Students increasingly work two jobs and go to school full time. Vujnovic noted that financial uncertainty and increasing debt is creating adverse effects on students’ stress levels.
“I already see it amongst my students. When the message was received by the students I was just wrapping up my class and students were getting visibly upset. Some on the edge of tears,” she said. “One student said that she simply can’t afford it and she fears she won’t be able to continue at Monmouth.”
“As a college student it’s never nice to hear that tuition is going up. As an education major, my future job is one of the lowest paying jobs in the world so increasing tuition would only mean that my student loan amount would increase,” said Alexis Borrino, a junior education student.
Borrino also suggested that the University disclose expenditures in order to show students where there money is being allocated. “Since Monmouth did increase the tuition I feel like it would be ideal for them to give us a rough outline of where this extra money is going because it can be kind of skeptical sometimes,” she said.
“I don’t really see any changes, financially, in my program so it would be nice to see a plan as to what this increase in tuition is going to do for my major/education department,” Borrino added.
McCahery noted that if the school wants to grow, it needs more money for amenities like building more classrooms and hiring more professors.
“It’s understandable why the tuition does go up, but at the same time I feel like they don’t try to keep it as low of an increase as they could every year,” he said.
IMAGE TAKEN from NPR
