Maroon

              1986 Mardi Gras poster inside, see centerfold The MAROON Vol. 64, No. 15 Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118 February 7, 1986 Fiscal jam: Tuition rises 12 percent By Rene Sanchez and Becky Westerlund Staff writers Loyola will raise undergraduate tuition $592 next academic year to replace funds lost to state cutbacks, dwindling enrollment and a depressed local economy, announced John L. Eckholdt, vice president for Business and Finance. The increase was also necessary to offset Loyola's fiscal dependence on WWL radio and television, whose rate of growth has continued to stabilize, Dr. Norman Roussell, chairman of the University Budget Committee, said. "Loyola is in excellent financial health. It's just a period of adjustment for the university," Roussell said. "It certainly pressures us into a position where students must absolve more of the cost of their education." Undergraduate tuition is now $4,828, but will rise 12 percent to $5,420 next academic year. Other tuition increases were also announced: •For City College, from $90 to $98 per credit hour •For the Law School, from $210 to $240 per credit hour •For summer school, from $120 to 5130 per credit hour •For graduate school, from $182 to $200 per credit hour University center fees also will rise next year to $50 per semester for fulltime students, $30 for part-time students and $12 for summer-session students. Dormitory room rates will rise about nine percent next year, Eckholdt announced. Double rooms in both Biever and Buddig halls will cost $1,020 per semester in 1986-87. "We have succeeded again this year in keeping tuition costs modest," Roussell said. "The increase should not substantially burden students." Roussell emphasized that universityfunded financial aid will be increased by about 23 percent to diminish the impact of the 12 percent tuition increase."The real cost is less than you think it is," he said. Tuition would have risen about eight percent if Loyola had not lost $1 million in state aid it had budgeted for the 1985-86 school year, Roussell said. The aid, which amounts to about three percent of the university's operating budget, was slashed by one vote in the State Senate last summer. Roussell said the university is working diligently to have the aid restored. Dr. Jerrol M. Seaman, a member of the Tuition and Fees Subcommittee of the University Budget Committee, said that the Rev. James C. Carter, S.J., university president, still has some hope of restoration of state funds. "But I wouldn't hold my breath for that to happen," he said. Declining enrollment also has placed a financial burden on the university, he said. Loyola lost about 73 students this school year, a 1.8 percent decrease that amounts to almost $400,000 in lost revenue, and anticipates a 6.8 percent drop, or 250 students, next year, Roussell said. The university's land in Kenner also has created problems, since Loyola cannot sell it for what it is actually worth because of the depressed local market, Roussell said. "For all of this to happen simultaneously is just bad for us," Roussell said. An additional university fiscal adjustment has been its broadcast operations, he said, emphasizing that WWL's role in the university endowment has continued to shrink. In 1982 the radio and television operation comprised about 48 percent of the university endowment. In 1986, it is expected lo make up 27.5 percent. "Every student at Loyola is subsidized by funds from the endowment," he said. "If WWL were not here, the cost would be much more than what it is now." Roussell said the cost of educational goods and services rose by about seven percent in 1985. Despite these increases, the percentage of Loyola's educational and general expenses paid by students has not changed significantly, he said. Tuition and fees added up to 59.1 percent of the university's educational and general expenditures in 1980, and will be 59.5 percent next year, Roussell said. The $592 undergraduate increase is Low WWL profits hurt endowment By Katie Duffy Assistant News Editor WWL-TV, Channel 4, considered one of Loyola's primary investments, has "peaked out," the Rev. Thomas H. Clancy, S.J., vice president for Communications, said. A substantial part of Loyola's endowment, which is among the largest in the country per student, is provided by profits from WWL. The* endowment is over $2000 per student, fsdfsdfsdf Clancy said. Although Channel 4 remains the top television station in viewer ratings and generates a large revenue from advertising, it is not growing as fast financially as it did in the past. When WWL's profits were getting larger annually, Loyola was able to spend up to 12 percent more every year, Clancy said. Now growth in revenue has slowed and Loyola's expenses have climbed. Loyola's projected general and educational expenses for 1986 are near 535 million, almost five times what they were in 1971. "Obviously, this creates a problem," Clancy said. "A business like Channel 4 can decide to curb spending, but that is very difficult for a university to do." As Loyola moves from a small, local school to an important national university, more funding is needed, both from endowment sources and in the form of tuition increases when necessary, Clancy said. Clancy said Loyola's major investments are its broadcasting operations, government bonds and land. Clancy said that because some of the university's investments are not growing as fast as they once did, more fundraising like the Campaign for Loyola which raised $13.2 million to build the Communication/Music complex will be necessary to fund future projects. Fortunately, Loyola now has nearly all the facilities it needs, Clancy said. The completion of the Communications/Music Complex and the purchase of the former St. Mary's Dominican College campus lasl year solved most space problems, he said. "Now we are waiting for the recreation center/parking garage and additional library space. Hopefully we will get both within a few years," he said. Very soon, only building maintenance will have to be funded and that is a lot easier than having to construct more buildings, he said. The greatest surge in costs in the past decade, Clancy said, has been in salaries. Salary expense in 1982 cost four times what it did in 1976. Loyola has raised salaries to attract excellent faculty members, he said. In 1985 wage and benefits cost the university S2O.S million. But Clancy added that salary expense should not rise too much since the inflation rate is down and that will See Tuition/page 5 See Endowment/page 4