SHSU Regents Approve Tuition, Fee Hikes for Fall 2010

By Jennifer Gauntt

An increase in tuition and fees for Sam Houston State University was among the items approved by the Texas State University System Board of Regents at their regular quarterly meeting in Beaumont on Friday.

Beginning in the fall 2010, tuition will increase $8 per semester credit hour to provide funds for increasing costs of salaries and benefits for personnel in areas of instruction, academic and institutional support, student services and plant operations that are not funded by specific student fees or auxiliary services.

The funds will also cover the costs for the new Elliott T. Bowers Honors College, formerly known as the Elliott T. Bowers Honors Program, and an additional scholarship program. The regents also approved the name change from “program” to “college” on Friday.

“The National Collegiate Honors Council describes the basic characteristics of an honors college, and the honors program at Sam Houston State University meets these criteria,” SHSU President Jim Gaertner told the regents.

“Honors college status will enhance the university’s ability to recruit high quality students and faculty and promote scholarship and research,” he said. Ten Texas four-year institutions currently have honors colleges.

In addition to tuition, several fee increases for fall 2010 were also approved including those for correspondence courses, the Executive MBA program, and the PGA Golf Management Program.

The fee for a correspondence course will increase from $70 per semester credit hour to $80 per semester credit hour with a $30 non-refundable administrative fee.

“The Correspondence Course Division is entirely self-supporting and has a current enrollment of 1,167,” said Gaertner. “The increase will offset rising costs in supplies and postage.”

The regents also authorized SHSU to increase the price for its Executive MBA program from $28,000 to $32,000 for domestic students and from $40,000 to $46,000 for international students effective for the fall 2010 entering class.

“The requested increase is needed to offset the increased costs that have occurred since the program was established in 2005,” Gaertner told the regents.

“The requested price is still far below that of other Texas universities’ EMBA programs including the University of Houston ($59,000), UT-Dallas ($75,000), UT-Arlington ($58,500), and Texas A&M; ($75,000),” Gaertner explained.

The PGA Golf Management Program fee will increase from $1,800 per year to $2,150 per year with funding to offset increased costs of material supplied by the PGA, as well as the increased cost of providing golf course access and player development activities.

“Although these costs have increased each year since 2005 when the regents last approved the fee structure for the program, the university has not increased fees since that time,” said Gaertner.

Sam Houston State was also permitted to reduce the Student Service Fee to $15 per semester credit hour and increase the Intercollegiate Athletic Fee to $15 per semester credit hour.

SHSU students approved the proposed Student Service Fee reduction and the implementation of an Intercollegiate Athletic Fee over the course of two academic years with a referendum in October 2008.

In other business the regents approved SHSU to offer graduate certificate programs to meet professional needs beyond the baccalaureate degree.

The new programs include: cyber security, data assurance, digital investigation, educational technology, academic advising, adult education, early childhood education, early childhood special education, effective online instruction, second language instruction, youth services in libraries, and general psychology.

The regents also approved an undergraduate certificate in communication.

The Department of Political Science was also authorized to offer the Master of Public Administration degree by distance learning in response to the increasing number of prospective students inquiring about such a course at SHSU.

Study abroad courses were approved for offerings in Australia, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, England, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and Switzerland. Courses were also approved for study at several states within the United States, including Washington, D.C.

The regents also awarded the title of Distinguished Professor of Sociology to Alessandro Bonanno, chair of the Department of Sociology, in recognition of his service to Sam Houston State.

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