Student demands for high-tech campuses and personal attention — coupled with economic pressure — are forcing many Tristate schools to raise undergraduate tuition beyond national averages and inflation.

        “If it keeps going up I'll do what I've always done, sit out a quarter and earn some money,” said Joshua Thacker, 23, a junior from Mason studying philosophy at the University of Cincinnati.

Joshua Thacker is working part time and looking for $3,500 in loans to finish his junior year at UC. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        Meanwhile, he's working part time as a waiter and seeking $3,500 in loans to finish the school year. “I've reached the point that I can't keep paying for it by myself.”

        Price pressure is most obvious on four-year public campuses. Annual in-state tuition and mandatory fees rose 4.4 percent nationally over last year, as reported Monday by the College Board. Here's how area schools compared:

        • Northern Kentucky University has the highest increase in tuition and fees, at 11.8 percent. But $2,688 tuition was the lowest tuition among schools polled by the Enquirer.

        • UC raised tuition 6.8 percent, to $5,337.

        • Ohio State University is charging $4,356, up 5.9 percent.

        • Miami University isn't far behind, with $6,403, an increase of 5.8 percent.

        • University of Kentucky: $3,446, an increase of 4.6 percent.

        • And at Indiana Univer sity, tuition and fees were $4,405, up 4.5 percent.

        Only the two Kentucky universities charged less than the $3,510 national average reported by the College Board.

        That 4.4 percent increase exceeded last year's rise in the Consumer Price Index of 2.7 percent and the 3.5 percent inflation rate for the first eight months of 2000, when projected for the whole year.

        None of this surprised Kari Woodling, 19, a UC sophomore from Marion, Ohio, studying to be an athletic trainer. She's working part time, has taken out many loans and is anxious about tuition increases because her parents already “are working their butts off” to help four children through college.

        She isn't unusual, added James Williams, director of enrollment services at UC. “Students are borrowing more. ... The volume has increased sharply every year since about 1987.”

        He said it's commonplace for a UC undergraduate to owe $15,000 to $20,000; fewer than 8 percent now default on their loans.

        One response has been to increase UC grants and scholarships, Mr. Williams said.

        If college costs have risen faster than inflation for years, so has the value of post-secondary education.

        “I see it as an investment in myself,” said Nikki Bolden, 33, a UC freshman English major and Madisonville mother of three.

        She decided to pursue a degree after working for 15 years in retailing. She said she hopes to find scholarships to supplement grants and loans. And even if tuition continues to rise, she'll find a way, Ms. Bolden said.

        Educators attributed tuition increases to a variety of causes:

        • In the early '90s, state legislatures skimped on higher education to pay for public schools, prisons and roads when recession eroded tax revenues.

        • Efforts to restore those state funds never caught up, and costs are being shifted to students.

        • Students demand state-of-the-art technology and, as Elizabeth Conlisk, a spokeswoman for OSU put it, “high tech is more expensive than low tech.”

        • Colleges and universities are putting more resources into retaining undergrads through campus redesign, improved services and academic innovations to improve the quality of life and likelihood students will graduate within six years.

        • Higher education is not immune to faculty and staff pressure for better pay and benefits.

        Private four-year schools are not immune to many of those same pressures, but they seem to have held the line better than public universities:

        • Xavier University increased tuition by 4.9 percent to $15,680.

        • College of Mount St. Joseph in Delhi is charging $13,500, but a 3.9 percent increase was the lowest percentage in 22 years.

        • University of Dayton raised tuition by 3.5 percent to $16,070.

        • Thomas More College eschewed any increase. It's still $12,580.

        At similar private colleges nationally, tuition and fees average $16,332, up 5.2 percent from last year.

        Thomas J. Cunningham, associate XU vice president for financial administration, said private schools have additional problems that can force up costs. Without direct state aid, they are more dependent on tuition — and at XU, tuition covers 70 percent of the operating budget. Also, he said, those higher tuitions then impose a greater financial aid burden on private schools.

        XU spokeswoman Kelly Leon said increases reflect the need of private universities to provide high tech for students, faculty and staff and a desire to maintain low student-faculty ratios and financial aid.

        Similarly, room and board rose on some Tristate campuses and remained constant on others.

        Schools reported these approximate room-and-board costs, rounded to the nearest percent:

        UC held the line at $6,399, as did UK at $3,722.

        Other schools surveyed were Miami, $5,590 (up 4.9 percent); OSU, $5,397 (up 4.9 percent); NKU, $4,062 (up 7 percent); IU, $6,827 (up 8 percent); Thomas More, $3,656 (up 8 percent); XU, $4,430 (up 4 percent) and the Mount, $5,100 (up 1 percent).

        On-campus room and board now averages $4,960 nationally at public schools, up 5.1 percent. Room and board on private campuses is now $6,209, a 4.2 percent increase.

        Despite the increases, college remains affordable and a good investment, said College Board President Gaston Caperton.

        “In both earning potential and learning potential, you cannot beat the value of a college education,” the former West Virginia governor said.

        The New York-based College Board is a nonprofit organization that administers the SATs and promotes higher education. It surveyed more than 3,000 schools to find out undergraduate charges for 2000-2001.

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