OSU regents approve tuition and fee increases at A&M schools

Saturday, June 25th 2005, 11:12 am

By: News On 6

OKMULGEE, Okla. (AP) _ Regents governing Oklahoma State University have approved a 7.2 percent tuition and fees increase for in-state and a 9 percent hike for nonresident undergraduate students at the Stillwater campus.

Students will see an average increase of at least $294 a year, but the school is expected to remain the least expensive of schools in the Big 12 Conference, President David Schmidly said Friday during the regents' monthly meeting at OSU-Okmulgee.

The average annual cost for an in-state undergrad will be $4,365, about $40 less than the average at the University of Oklahoma, which on Thursday raised tuition and fees by an average 6.5 percent.

Faculty and staff at OSU-Stillwater will get an average 3 percent merit-based pay raise, effective Oct. 1, Schmidly said. Another 3 percent will be available for merit faculty raises January 1.

OSU hasn't completely rebounded from budget cuts in recent years and hasn't kept pace with faculty salaries, he said.

``Our biggest challenge has been retaining faculty,'' Schmidly said, adding that OSU has ranked in the bottom of the Big 12 in faculty compensation.

The school will restore 25 tenured jobs that have been vacant and hire 10 more full-time professors, he said.

The average for tuition and fee increases at other campuses under the Board of Regents for Oklahoma A&M Colleges includes an 8.7 percent hike for Oklahoma Panhandle State University and an increase of 7.9 percent at Langston University.

Other increases include a 7.4 percent jump at OSU-Tulsa, a 7.1 percent hike at OSU-Okmulgee and a 6 percent increase at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, a two-year college.

Burns Hargis was elected chairman of the OSU/A&M Board of Regents, succeeding Jay Helm, who will continue as a regent.

Hargis, vice chairman of the Bank of Oklahoma, is an OSU graduate and has a law degree from OU.