Students Upset at Fee Increase

When many of the attending students chose Salem State College, they did so because of it offered a four-year degree at a community college price. The price of attendance looks to be rising again though as student fees are expected to continue to rise.

According to wickedlocal.com, Massachusetts cut the budget for state colleges and universities by $48 million last year to help close a $5-billion budget gap, and have left students to generate that funding by raising school fees.

"I transferred here for the lower cost. That is the whole reason I am here," said sophomore Christina Blanchette. "If it's not cheap, Salem State will lose its demand."

Salem State is not the only school being affected. Every state school in Massachusetts has felt the budget cuts, and school fees are expected to rise state-wide.  This comes at a bad time for families with college-age children who have already been stretched by the recent economic decline. Many students already work while attending Salem State in order to help pay for the cost of school. Students and their families must decide if they can continue with their education here or transfer somewhere else, which could lead to a swell of transfer students from the more expensive state universities in places like Lowell and Amherst, and other students leaving Salem State College for places like North Shore Community College.

Many students felt blindsided by the news and feel the school should have done more to inform them of the potential for a school fee increase.

"I found out about this through an email from my Salem State account. I use that account regularly, but most of the other students I know don't use their Salem State account at all," said senior Mary Kate DiFrancesco.

Other students demand more from the school if they are to be charged more to attend, requesting benefits like more parking or improvements made to south campus's Academic Building. Some still feel the school isn't providing them with the basics of a formal educational institution.

"I feel they should not raise student fees until they finish rebuilding the library," said senior Erin White.

According to wickedlocal.com, help has been promised by the federal stimulus bill in the form of $156 million for state colleges and universities, bringing the budgets back to where they were before the cuts, but none of that money has been seen yet.

This year, according to The Salem News, an in-state undergraduate student paid $6,850 for tuition and school fees. That number is $330 or 5 percent more than the same student would have paid the year before.

Unlike tuition, school fees are used to cover the cost of running the school, and if the price is going up, some students would like to know exactly where that money is going.

"They should break down the fees in my bill so that I know exactly what I am paying for," said junior Robyn Hinman.

While the state has been unable to help cover the cost of school fees, wickedlocal.com reported that they also have not raised tuition in a decade, but that is little consolation to students who feel that they have already been overcharged for their education.

The trustees committee is set to meet on May 19. It is then that students should expect to know if the school fees will rise. If so it will be the ninth consecutive year that they have.