Mass. Students Dunned $100

BOSTON--Students at some of the state's 29 colleges and universities returning from winter break this month are likely to find themselves saddled with an unwelcome gift--a bill for $100.

More than one-third of the students in the state education system are being dunned for up to $100 in emergency fees this semester to recoup $20 million in state-ordered budget cuts, the state education chancellor said this week.

Board of Regents of Higher Education Chancellor Franklyn G. Jenifer said he expected the imposition of the fees on some of the state's 180,000 students should be a one-time occurrence. The fees are being imposed at more than 10 schools, he said.

Under voluntary guidelines installed last year, higher education institutions can retrieve up to 30 percent of the price of tuition through the fees.

The fees range from $35 to $100 per student and are specifically designed to make up some of the budget shortfall, regents spokesperson Terry Zoulas said.

Jenifer said several schools are exceeding the 30 percent level this semester in an attempt to cope with the 3 percent budget reversions ordered last November to meet Dukakis administration savings goals.

The cuts reduced the state higher education budget to $678 million for fiscal 1989, which ends June 30, a severe drop from the $735 million budget in the previous fiscal year.

In addition to the fees, state education officials said some part-time faculty are being laid off, some classes have increased in size, fewer courses are being offered and enrollment at community colleges has been reduced by up to 1500 students.

Jenifer said he would know by the end of the week which schools had imposed the fees and how high the extra costs are. But he said he expected the schools to abandon the emergency fees by the fall. "I'm confident for the most part they are one-time emergency fees where they only temporarily will put us out of focus," Jenifer said.

"If it continues and we go into a second year or second semester, that's when you begin to see some of the erosion you're talking about," he said.

Board members said they were concerned the new fees are freezing some students out of the higher education system.

Jenifer had said about 1000 students would be denied entrance to schools this semester because of a need to trim enrollments in the wake of the budget cuts. Students seeking second-semester admission and transfers account for the bulk of the entrance denials, he said.