Sen. Kissel: “My concern is for regular, middle class people in Connecticut.”

Sen. John Kissel speaks during the Program Review and Investigations Committee’s Oct. 3 public hearing. The committee is studying how the affordability of an undergraduate education at UConn has changed for in-state students.

The following article appeared in the October 4, 2013 Waterbury Republican-American.

UConn’s costs raise lawmakers’ concerns

State lawmakers heard conflicting opinions Thursday on whether the University of Connecticut is becoming too pricey for Connecticut students and families. UConn President Susan Herbst insisted UConn remains a competitively priced, affordable choice, while researchers for the legislature reported the increasing cost is making a UConn education less affordable. In-state students living on UConn’s Storrs campus are paying $23,744 this academic year between tuition and fees. Scheduled increases will drive the cost higher over the next two years. The university’s Board of Trustees approved a four-year tuition plan two years ago. There could also be unanticipated tuition and fee increases. The legislature’s Program Review and Investigations Committee is studying how the affordability of an undergraduate education at UConn has changed for in-state students.

“My concern is for what I would call regular, middle class people here in the state of Connecticut,” said Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, the committee’s co-chairman. Committee members received an update on the UConn study Thursday and conducted a public hearing to gather information.

One of the study’s initial findings is that affordability of a four-year education at UConn and other universities is challenging to evaluate. “The perception of what is affordable is specific to individual students and their families who take on varying levels of short- and long-term costs, and when we look at the price of an education it often looks overwhelming, especially when you have been looking at the price increases recently,” said Scott Simoneau, one of the committee’s researchers. The price of a UConn education has increased far beyond inflation and income, according to the preliminary research. This has been the trend for flagship universities and four-year public institutions in other states. “The trends in UConn’s prices and affordability are poor from a student’s perspective, but, for the most part, it is relatively better than other flagships on the whole,” said Janelle Stevens, another researcher working on the committee’s study.

The research also found UConn’s affordability has declined less than the average for four-year public colleges and universities. The preliminary report to the committee stated that UConn’s affordability is relatively favorable because of the state’s high income levels. Kissel and Rep. Mary M. Mushinsky, D-Wallingford, the committee’s other co-chair, questioned how the wealth of Fairfield County skews an evaluation based on income measures. It is one of the richest counties in the country. They asked the committee’s researchers to try to break Fairfield County out of the evaluation. Mushinsky suggested the researchers determine how many UConn students fall within the income brackets the study is using.

Rep. Roberta Willis, D-Salisbury, suggested researchers identify the numbers of students attending UConn from each of the state’s 169 towns and cities. “The question I have really, and I think what we are trying to get at, is affordability a barrier to students in the state of Connecticut,” said Willis, House chairwoman of the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee.

Herbst testified Thursday that UConn measures up. “The central question of the committee’s study is quite simple: Is UConn accessible, affordable and a good value to students? By every measure, the answer is a resounding yes,” she said. A group of six UConn students, including Adam Kuegler, a 19-year-old freshman from Watertown, also told the committee that UConn offers an affordable, top qualify education for in-state students.