Dark times are ahead Shepherd students. For those of you who are remaining at Shepherd University through the 2013 fall semester, expect some major financial changes.
I am an out-of-state, on-campus resident, paying my own way through college. I have made my way halfway through my college education and (so far) only managed to sink myself into a few hundred thousand dollars in debt. I chose to transfer to Shepherd University as a sophomore because as an out-of-state student, the tuition was not incredibly high. It was a realistic number even though I live less than an hour away.
According to the fall 2012 student demographic data available on the Shepherd University Web site, 40 percent of the student body is out-of-state students. In 2008, the percent of out-of-state students was 44.4 percent. This number gradually decreased each year.
I attribute the decreasing amount of out-of-state students to the “unexpected” costs Shepherd keeps implementing upon its student body. Currently, as an out-of-state student, I am paying approximately $15,000 in tuition and $9,000 in room and board. The grand total is close to $25,000 per year. For the current 60 percent in-state students, total tuition for a year is around $15,000.
Shepherd students, get your checkbooks ready. Upcoming West Virginia state cuts will directly affect our student finances.
In order to maintain competition against other schools in proximity, Shepherd University will endorse an in-state and out-of-state tuition and fee increase correlating to the state of West Virginia’s approaching budget cuts. The increase in tuition and in fees could be as high as nine percent.
The proposed tuition and fee increases are debated in the Budget Advisory Council of 2013-2014. This council consists of faculty, classified staff, non-classified staff and students. The council’s intentions are to determine funds for 2013-2014 and recommend tuition increases. These funds and increases are all determined by the state of West Virginia’s annual budget cuts.
Gareth Glewwe, a sophomore majoring in Computer Engineering, is an out-of-state student who believes this possible tuition increase will be a transformation for Shepherd. “I feel like this increase will be Shepherd’s way of growing from a small college to a larger university. You gotta pay for it somehow. It’s all part of the growing pains.”
The possible nine percent tuition increase seems rather large to me as an out-of-state student. It feels fast, too easy, and a little too under the radar. I am angry, nervous, and anxious to see where Shepherd University is going to be putting my money within in the next few years.
I have been here only two semesters and already my tuition is jumping a possible nine percent? As if the impending college loan bubble wasn’t enough for me to fret about.
Looking comparatively at other institutions in my home state, Shepherd University’s total in-state price is actually lower than most.
Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, Pa., is approximately $18,000 for two semesters’ time. After looking at these other prices comparatively, I was semi-relieved. Then I realized, wait, although we are a “state” institution, we are rather small compared to Shippensburg! Our student body is significantly lower; why, then, the sudden “unexpected” raise in costs?
The cynical part of me wants to blame it on the administration, but the realist in me knows most of the blame lies in the hands of West Virginia and the budget cuts intended for higher education.
Yes, let us take away a serious amount of money from the young future of this country (because we have so much to begin with) and let them sink farther and farther into their debt. While they are submersing/drowning/suffocating in thousands of dollars, we’ll continue to charge them a hundred dollars here and there for being a member of higher education.
As far as my experience at Shepherd University goes, is has kept true to its motto. So, fellow students, here’s to more years of West Virginia and Shepherd University’s “unexpected” expenses.
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