MARQUETTE, Mich.— The Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees today approved tuition and fees for 2009-10. Full-time resident undergraduates will pay an annual rate of $7,454, an increase of $188 per semester. Full-time nonresident undergraduates will pay $11,828, or $299 more per semester.

            Administrators presented different models for the finance committee’s consideration, each with varying impacts on tuition and the university’s budget. The approved plan balances a 5.3 percent tuition increase with a 9.8 percent boost in university-supported financial aid and scholarships and $2.9 million in budget reductions. If NMU receives stimulus funding this fall, the dollars will be divided among undergraduates and credited to their accounts.

“Because of the increases in institutional aid and federal financial aid support for the Pell Grant program, about one-third of Northern students—those with the greatest financial need—will actually be paying less in tuition in fiscal year 2010 than they did this past year,” said Gavin Leach, vice president for finance and administration, adding that NMU will maintain its rank of second-lowest tuition among Michigan’s public universities.

Administrators developed the tuition models around a projected 3.2 percent decrease in state appropriation and stable enrollment.

In supporting the 5.3 percent tuition proposal, Trustee Larry Inman said, “Northern has taken a posture over the last seven years of being more aggressive in terms of cutting its budget rather than increasing tuition compared with its peer institutions. We’ve always been very sensitive to the cost of an education. But in the process, we’ve basically taken most of the meat and all of the fat away from the bone, from the structure of NMU. It’s to the point we can’t cut much more without affecting quality. With this increase still comes a level of pain because there are budget reductions. I’m comfortable with this combination.”

Trustee Gil Ziegler cast the lone dissenting vote: “I can’t support putting this burden on the backs of students.”

In other action, the board:

▪Accepted nearly $2,800 in gifts and $1.2 million in external grants.

 

▪Agreed to increase the one-time student athletic fee charged to full-time freshmen, new undergraduate and transfer students from $200 to $225. The fee allows students to attend all athletic events on campus at no charge for six years.

 

▪Granted emeritus status to former professors Lawrence Ellerbruch, mathematics, and Thomas Meravi, engineering technology.

 

▪Approved the following public school academy board appointments: Donna Boda and Marilyn Shawano, Nah Tah Wahsh Charter School; and Marcus Randolf, Burton Glen Charter School. Geneva Wadahsega and Rose Gill were also reappointed to the Nah Tah Wahsh board.

 

The full tuition and fees schedule approved at today’s board meeting is available at www.nmu.edu/tuition.