Salem State won’t hike fees this year

SALEM – The state’s nine public colleges, including Salem State College, voted Tuesday not to hike student fees for the 2008-09 academic year in the wake of Gov. Deval Patrick’s recent budget cuts.SSC Spokesperson Karen Cady confirmed that the school would hold steady with its current fee rates, but said college officials would review whether or not to raise the fees for the 2009-10 school year.”We joined our sister institutions in the commonwealth in the decision not to raise student fees during the current academic year,” Cady said. “When a student is looking at the cost of attending college for a year they have to budget a certain amount. It would be unfair to burden them with a higher cost mid-year, especially with the cost of everything else around them going up.”Student fees for the 2008-09 year at Salem State are $5,610 per student.State colleges were among the most affected by Patrick’s recent cuts, and Salem State is no exception. The school lost 5.6 percent of its state aid, equal to approximately $2.8 million.Cady said the college is making every effort to preserve the academic integrity of the school, scaling back on large purchases, funding out-of-state trips and expenses for employees and student groups and placing a hiring freeze on all non-essential positions.”We don’t want to jeopardize the quality of education, that is the bottom line,” Cady said.While SSC and other schools are holding steady this year, the reality that student fees will go up in the future is very real. Patrick has already sliced a large chunk of the state budget, and the possibility that ballot Question 1 could repeal the state income tax would make the budget situation worse at public institutions.State college presidents from many schools are warning that student fees and tuition could rise next year.