Tuition Fees Could Rise 15 Per Cent

Undergraduate tuition for the 1981-82 academic year will probably run between 10 and 15 per cent higher than this year's $9170 rate, Melissa D. Gerrity, assistant dean of the Faculty for financial affairs, said yesterday.

"I hope we can keep it under 15 per cent," she added.

Gerrity and two other administrators presented budget reports for the 1979-80 academic year on three University departments to the Committee on Houses and Undergraduate Life (CHUL) yesterday, stressing the importance of tuition income in meeting inflationary costs and avoiding budget deficits.

While room rent and facilities fees for 1979-80 totaled $1400, the sum for the current academic year was $1580. Sources said yesterday that figure should jump to more than $1700 for the 1981-82 school year.

Despite an extra $171,727 in the 1979-80 Food Services budget, the department spent $15,786 more than it took in last year, Benjamin H. Walcott, assistant director of Food Services, said at the meeting.

Deficits from the past several years have combined to give Food Services a negative departmental balance of almost $123,000, a report given to CHUL members states.

Because of inflationary costs of food, increased support for Hillel meals, equipment costs and other expenses, Food Services asked budget officials for a "substantial board increase" for the 1981-82 school year, the report adds.

Overrun

Department 91--which covers the costs of the House system and freshman dormitories--ran a budget deficit of $331,198 for the 1979-80 fiscal year, Martha G. Coburn, associate dean of the College, said at the meeting.

Since the Class of '83 was unexpectedly large, Department 91--which received 91.5 per cent of its income from students' room rent and College facility fees last year--took in more money than it had projected, but high maintenance and heat costs caused an overrun in building expenses, a Department 91 report presented to CHUL members states.

Although Department 91 officials are attempting to reduce energy consumption, rapidly escalating energy costs made it necessary to budget for a $307,411 deficit for fiscal 1981, the report states, adding that uncontrollable inflation could push the deficit to $650,000 by next June.

The Faculty's budget for fiscal 1980--which ended last June--ran an operating surplus of $168,000, but the budget for the current fiscal year includes a $785,000 deficit, Gerrity said.

The Faculty's current budget and the fiscal 1982 budget--to be discussed this month--reflect officials' concern about the decline in real Faculty salaries, uncertainty about federal financial aid money, and rapidly rising energy costs, Dean Rosovsky said at the meeting.

Saying he fears a reduction in federal money for student financial aid, Rosovsky said, "If the present situation continues, there is a real danger to our policy right now."

Departments that run deficits often borrow from the University and must repay the loans with interest, which currently stands at about 7 per cent. Gerrity said the Faculty will probably have to borrow money from the Corporation to cover expenses incurred under the current budget.

"Unfortunately, I don't see too many positives on the horizon," Gerrity said, adding, "Unfortunately, we have to keep turning to tuition.