Most students understand that college costs money, especially Saint Louis University.

The word in the Quad has mixed student opinion. As a whole, the tuition increase of 6.9 percent is not forcing many students to flee the Saint Louis University campus, but is creating a few questions.

Senior Mike Cappel feels that the tuition increase is not any different from the rest of the four years he has attended classes at SLU. “I’ve just come to expect it over it the years,” he said. “I’ve grown complacent to an increase of seven percent.”

Cappel stressed the importance of better communication. The Student Government President-elect said that instead of simply telling parents a price, the University should tell them the reasons for the increase. “Don’t surprise them and make sure we’re getting what we pay for,” he continued.

Cappel does not support the idea of a grandfather clause, which would make a set price for the four years in which they attend the University. “When you crunch numbers, it would make our university extremely high priced in a very short amount of time,” he said.

Cappel agrees with students who are happy about an increase in scholarships and financial aid. However, he said that if the scholarships are increasing for freshmen, there should be an equivalent percent increase in scholarships for all students. He does feel that financial aid does an excellent job of keeping the price of the University affordable.

Cappel pointed out that students choose their battles. “We argue over a $100 parking increase, but we don’t bat an eye over $900 or $1000 for tuition because most students’ parents pay for it.”

“As far as I’ve seen, students grow complacent to the increase,” he said. “The ones who it is really affecting are the ones who pay for tuition themselves.”

As far as how the increase will affect the student body, Cappel said that he doesn’t see it forcing many students to transfer schools. “People will find a way to pay the tuition if they really want to stay,” he said, “but it may detract a few students from coming here if don’t get the right scholarships.”

Even though Cappel doesn’t see the increase in the price of tuition forcing students to other schools, that’s just what one sophomore is doing.

Karla Tessaro, a sophomore, has felt the price of rising tuitions pretty hard. In fact, she is transferring schools because of the high price of SLU.

“I have no scholarships or financial aid,” Tessaro said. “With the increase, there is just no way that I can afford it.”

“The tuition increase is very frustrating for me. SLU is already an expensive school and I don’t see where my money is going. I feel that I am not being offered enough for the amount of money that I pay,” she stated.

“For the price, I don’t think it seems worth it,” Tessaro continued. She cited incidents of teachers whom she views as poor instructors. In addition, the University does not offer her major, mortuary science.

“With the size of this school, they should be working on opening up more departments, and expanding other areas of study,” she said.

Tessaro said she doesn’t know what the increase could do for the student body: “Honestly, all I have seen lately is new sculptures.”

Tessaro went on to comment on the new student union, which she favors. “However, how will this help our education?” she questioned. “I think there are so many other departments that SLU could establish or make better.”

She took a definite stance that the increase in tuition is not necessary. “I have gone to visit other schools and even community colleges where the same courses are offered at such a lower price,” she said. “These courses certify people in their fields just the same as SLU does.”

When comparing SLU’s tuition increase to that of other schools, about two percent higher, Tessaro said, that SLU might be trying rise in national rankings. “This is not a bad thing in itself but there are people who are struggling as it is to pay for school,” she said.

Tessaro summed up her feelings with one phrase: “It seems to me like SLU is money hungry.”

Freshman Jim Sarcone is not surprised by the tuition increase. “I may not like it, but there is no getting around it,” he said. “An increase is something that every student should expect no matter what level of schooling they are at.”

Sarcone said that the only thing the increase could do for the student body or campus is to help pay for a new student union. “No matter what the increase is used for, I do believe it should be used for something that will benefit the entire student body,” he said.

Sarcone stated that an increase in tuition is necessary, but not that large of a jump. “SLU has one of the largest endowments of any private university in the country, why do students have to keep paying more?” he questioned.

Since SLU’s increase is about two percent higher than a lot of schools that are doing well, notably Washington University and Georgetown University, Sarcone said SLU’s tuition is not right.

“If those schools are doing all the things they are with a two percent less increase, why can’t SLU?” he questioned. “Maybe administrators from SLU should go to these universities and observe how they get things accomplished without increasing students’ tuition so heavily,” he suggested.

Sophomore Cab Gutting understands that schools always increase tuition, but that doesn’t make her not question why the University cannot raise

“Hopefully, the increase will improve our campus and provide more and improved faculty,” she said. “As far as negative impacts, I only worry about what effect a constant increase will have.”

As far as SLU’s increase being higher than other universities, Gutting said that she thinks SLU is probably catering to a slightly different type of student and the administration sees a lot of improvement that maybe the other schools don’t.

As a student who pays her own way through school, Gutting sees the increase as affecting her personally. “I really love SLU so leaving isn’t really an option but the increase does provide a more stressful environment,” she said.

Sophomore Mike Rozier sees the tuition increase is a “necessary evil.”

“Our tuition will undoubtedly be one of the factors that provide us with the resources to become the best Catholic university in the nation,” he said.

In regards to comparing SLU’s increase with that of Georgetown, Washington University and others, Rozier said

“Our tuition will have to increase more because we are trying to play catch up,” Rozier added.

He also had strong feelings about the scholarship situation: “I do think that the University is providing a tremendous number of scholarships for incoming students, but it seems as if this noble pursuit of attracting the best and brightest is at the expense of students already here.

“I would like to see a recommitment to those who have already chosen to place their trust in SLU, because I think that trust is being lost,” Rozier said.

Rozier said that he hope for the tuition increase to go to retention of the faculty the students deem effective, improvement of academic facilities and increased opportunities for students outside typical classrooms settings.

“But the thing that worries me is that I will never know the truth to where my extra money has gone,” Rozier said. “The increases obviously are more worries for a typical college student, but I will continue my position as a work-study student at the Medical School and will continue to enjoy my short time at SLU.”

Junior Nikki Morton feels that the tuition increase is worthwhile if it is going towards the enhancement of academic programs and well-trained faculty and staff.

“The student body could be affected by this is if the money went towards other things such as a new student union, in addition to academic programs,” Morton said.

“It will also attract to high school students because of the increase in scholarship money,” she said.

Morton is not sure if the 6.9 percent increase is necessary. “In the Jan. 18 issue of The University News, it said this increase would generate 12 million dollars, one half going to financial aid.”

Like many other SLU students, Morton questioned, “Wouldn’t it make more sense to not increase the tuition and thus no additional financial aid would be needed to cover the rising costs? We’re giving the University money so they can give it back to us and that’s not even a guarantee.”

“I don’t mind paying a large amount of money if my degree will be worth more in the future because of SLU’s reputation of educational excellence,” she said.

Morton, along with her entire family, is feeling the impact of the rise in tuition. “My loans keep pilling up and with the rising cost of private high school tuition it’s quite a burden for my parents who have to pay for my siblings’ tuition as well.”

“As much as I would love to have a year with not such a large increase, I do realize that many faculty, staff and students worked hard to put this budget together, so the 6.9 percent increase must be needed for a legitimate reason,” Morton said.

Teresa Barr, junior, said that if the tuition increases at Saint Louis University, then action needs to be taken to show the students, parents, faculty, and staff at SLU where the dollars are actually going, how the extra money is going to be utilized, and how the students at SLU are going to benefit from the increase.

“I think the administration of Saint Louis University needs to be enlightened once again that our university consists of students from various backgrounds,” Barr said. “There are many people that come to receive an education at SLU, who pay their full tuition, however, there are also many students at SLU that can only come here due to scholarships, grants, and other sources of financial aid.”

Both sets of students are going to be struggling to find the means to afford receiving a quality education here at SLU, Barr said.

Barr is happy with the reputation of her school. “SLU is a nationally recognized Midwest Jesuit university, known for giving its students an outstanding, quality education at an affordable price,” she said. “But with the tuition increasing almost yearly, is SLU still going to be able to call itself, `an affordable, quality education?'”

Barr continued her line of questioning: “Are they really putting the student first, when the student is struggling to find the means to afford coming to SLU?”

If the pros of the tuition increase outweigh the cons, then the students of Saint Louis University want to see positive results: more teachers whose main concern is the academic achievement and well-being of their students, more improvement and technological advances in the classrooms and an attitude from the administration to put the student first, Barr said.