The Towerlight, February 28, 2002

tl20020228-000 "ThE ThweNighb� Baltimore's #1 College Paper - Published Twice-Weekly - www.thetowerlight.com Thursday, 2/28/02 TU splits from USM calendar 3 BSU brings style to spring fashion 11 Tigers win by one at Hofstra 19 Beecher gives up lax to give life 2o Departments News Nation Police Blotter 3 6 6 Arts 11 In a Theater Near You 12 Comics & Comics 16 The High Road 16 Diversions 17 Sports 17 In This Corner 19 Bank Shots 21 Classifieds 24 Opinion 26 USM debates tuition increase Study reports Towson as one of USM's two 'affordable' schools, tuition may still rise Jennifer Hykes The Towerlight Tuition may increase up to 5.5 percent for the next academic year, although a national study released earlier this year lists Towson as one of two University System of Maryland (USM) institutions ranked as affordable. Even though USM members decided five years ago to attempt to hold tuition increases at or below four percent each year, Governor Parris Glendening's proposed budg-et suggests an additional 1.5 per-cent increase for the 2002-2003 school year. This is a major reversal for Glendening, who a year ago suggest-ed a 14 percent increase in state funding for higher education in 2002. The Lumina Foundation for Education conducted a study focus-ing on two and four-year institu-tions nationwide and found that of the 11 USM schools, only Towson and the University of Maryland- Baltimore County (UMBC) are affordable, without loans, for low and median-income students who are claimed as dependents. David Harnage, senior vice presi-dent and chief fiscal officer at Towson, said that's something the University administration works hard at sustaining. ""We must be responsible in main-taining affordability,"" said Harnage, who began working at Towson Feb. 1. And it's a tough balancing act and you guys as students have expectations of this school. So any-time we say, 'we want,' we have to measure that against what costs we're willing to pay or what we're willing to give up. Theie are no free goods."" Especially not in Maryland. The state was ranked among the last 16 in the Lumina study, which reported that only nine of the state's 24 four-year admissible insti-tutions are affordable without loans to Maryland residents. Mural brings 'Learning' to life at TU fese � Saul Stoogenke The Towerhght Artist Amy Bartell begins work today on a mural outside the Union's Patuxent Room. The University had its name removed from the title because the piece's themes are not unique to Towson. See story, page 3. Admissible institutions are think about the impact of all that, a defined as those that admit stu- person going to college should be dents whose grades and test scores fall between the 25th and 75th per-centile of high school graduates from their state. Although Towson leads the pack in this study as far as affordability goes, Harnage said the ability to provide an affordable education without student loans is growing increasingly more important and difficult. ""As we graduate a cohort group of students that has depended on loans, they find themselves with a rather large debt burden as they are facing an opportunity to improve entering their lives,"" Harnage said their life and prosper and do well of Towson's students. ""If you just and you inherently end up with that ""Although Maryland is dealing with the loss of predicted revenue, it's not as bad here as it is in some states."" David Harnage senior vice president and chief fiscal officer ... substantial burden."" The University was among the few Maryland institutions labeled affordable without loans, but tuition may sell be affected by the unstable economy. Harnage said Glendening's budget reversal is a result of the national economic cri-sis that has been building since Sept. 11. ""There have been budget reduc-tions in the state,"" Haulage said. ""As the economy slows, the ability for a state to collect revenue is also impacted. ""Because the economy will not support the planned support for higher education, the proposed See BUDGET, page 5 Today High 40 Low 19 Friday High 45 Low 31 Saturday High 47 Low 38 Sunday High 41 Lou' 28 Monday High 44 Low 21 "