Starting fall 2012, tuition costs will be determined by major instead of by course; dividing majors into three groups based on cost.
The ultimate goal of the University is to save money, said Provost John Antel.
The first group will consist of majors that do not require much financing or equipment such as English and Art History, while the second will include majors such as chemistry and biology — mainly majors in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. The third group will be composed of the more expensive and in-demand degrees like engineering and technology.
This should keep the cost of tuition down for students overall, Antel said.
“The University of Houston is not raising tuition anymore,” Antel said.
“We are not going to make our students pay any more than they have to.”
The National Center for Educational Statistics reported that only 15 percent of students graduate in four years and only 46 percent graduate within six years.
Antel said he hopes students will have a better idea of when their college experience will end under the new system.
“Many students at this university take six, seven or sometimes even eight years to receive their bachelor’s degree,” he said.
“A big reason for this is because of finances. The University will have better degree plans available for each major on the campus and on the website with the price of each course so students can have a better idea of how they can manage their course load from a money stand-point. We will hire more advisers and counselors to assist all our students with this.”
The system will also work in favor for freshmen; core classes cost much less to teach.
“I think this would definitely be better for everyone at this school because salaries also vary by degree,” said advertising senior Lauren Proff.
“It’s just not fair for an art major to pay the same as a chemical engineering major.”
I really don't see how this is fair to engineering majors.
You would think engineering majors would get a discount because we need more of them, we want more people in the engineering program, and we need to stop making liberal arts more attractive than valuable science majors.
A PhD in Engineering has excellent real world job prospects, especially when compared to a liberal arts PhD. As such, UH has to pay engineering profs significantly more than their liberal arts counterparts.
That is true, but also Engineering profs also bring in more research money and grants than liberal arts. Some Engineering profs do have large salaries, but the research they do make up for it
If you “give them a discount”, then you come out with the same amount as before. UH would loose money then.
Engineers will have a higher chance of getting a job after their graduation, making it easier for them to pay college loans and what not. Liberal arts majors, on the other, will most likely have a harder time doing so.
Your argument is pretty weak. You have to realize that not everyone can get loans. Plus, just because an engineer has a greater chance of finding a job, it's doesn't mean that he/she has to be punished for picking a major that will pay the bills.
No, but he shouldn't be rewarded for it either. Engineering majors have their hands held the entire way with paid internship and co-op opportunities, getting *paid* to go to class by PROMES and dozens on on-campus work opportunities *only* available to engineering students. If you want to enjoy the same tuition as everyone else, you need to have the same benefits.
Also consider, as stated by the article, that Engineering is among the most *expensive* degrees to pay for. Instead of being accredited by SACS, it is accredited by ABET (requiring a second set of compliance costs). Engineering has the largest college overhead on campus, with college offices taking up almost a floor of an entire building (collectively). Engineering students require the most assistance to pass their classes, with dozens of extra 24-hour tutoring facilities provided at zero cost to students. Engineering students cost more, so they have to pay more. You should be pleased, look how conservative we are being: no shared costs, the people who cost the most pay the most; the people who take the least from the university pay the least.
Engineers maybe more successful than Liberal Arts, if that the case then we should keep engineering tuition as low as possible to attract more students into the program, so we could have more successful alumni.
In fact we need to support them more than we need to do so than Bauer
Well here is another angle, they probably have to pay the engineering professor more money then most other professors in different colleges. Therefore, the cost of the class is automatically higher because of the professors.
Where/when was this discussed? Who approved this?
The student's job is to learn to their highest potential. The University's job is to simply teach. How is teaching from a textbook and papers in a quick-paced get-it-or-fail system so much different from one major to another really?
A young or old university student with needs and over-arching aspirations is ill-equipped to handle financial minutia and cope with a large degree-granting institution. Once-started, there is no safety net or fail-safe. Hence the draw-in.
This is a very bad idea, and the results will prove this out.
I just thought of another angle on this.
From the article above: “The University of Houston is not raising tuition anymore,” Antel said.
Who is? Who will raise tuition? The "colleges" within the University of Houston? The University of Houston academic departments?
How will indirect costs, administrative salaries/overhead/fees/support services be allocated? I know from many experiences in the business-world how this can work!
agreed – ridiculous statement. i think they know they can say this kind of crap and hardly anyone will remember a year from now, and those that do probably won't get published in a school funded paper.
if they really want to impress me they need to start talking about lowering tuition and developing open education resources instead of letting publishers rape students with their constantly revamped, insanely expensive 'custom' books.
"We will hire more advisers and counselors to assist all our students with this."
Money can be saved by not doing this!!! Just make it clear what courses the student is to take, how much it will cost, and give them straightforward a loan-paper to sign.
I don't intend to be mean, but advisers and counselors may better be titled sales and customer service clerks because they sell and tell within the narrowest of definitions of discretion and understanding – though still they should earn a living wage and provide a face-to-face service when needed.
agreed – i've spent all of 30 minutes with my adviser in the 2 years i've been at UH – because i was forced to. i think that cost me about 200-400$ ??? good deal for the advisers.
“We will hire more advisers and counselors to assist all our students with this.”
This is a dumb idea because at least in the business school there are several advisers who don’t know what they’re doing and are a waste of money. Why should they still have a job and get paid if they’re not even interested in helping students?
One way to increase graduation rates is to offer more classes during the summer.For example, if you want to take business classes during the summer you are stuck with lower-division Marketing and INTB courses. Why can’t they offer courses that are upper-division so those of us who have time in the summer can take those courses and be able to graduate on time since we usually work full-time during the regular semester or close to full-time hours.
OMG. THANK YOU!!! I have actually been telling them for YEARS to offer more classes during the summer.Finally someone who gets it, too. Just UH does not get it.
They were very willing to increase tuition by over 10% next year, bought tshirts to bribe students to raise student fees so they can spend more on their toys, and now they give a crap about tuition? Khator is bragging about how President Obama and that they have a special deal. My thoughts is that our tuition pays more than they want us to know.
However McHugh did keep his campaign promises that tuition will freeze, and Deek was right that freezing tuition was possible. Politicians actually telling the truth, shocker.
I am always right
Deek, if you were actually right, you wouldn't have lost in your election or picked such a horrendous party leader. Plus, I have been to a couple SGA meetings that you decided to speak at. The entire senate groans at the realization that you are about to speak, and applaud because you have stopped (not because you moved them, but they were just happy you were done talking).
Sincerely,
Concerned Cougar.
You mean the party leader who in a court of law would deem innocent (been a jury member for a few times)? The one in which was a 3-2 split with the head judge who in the past tried to kick his brother out of the SGA? Also, here is part of the opinion regarding McHugh with the judges who voted him innocent.
"The Election Commission lacked any real reason as to why McHugh was involved, aside from the commission’s belief that he “benefitted” from the election fraud—again with no real evidence to prove this aside from “irregularities in the voting numbers.” There is nothing ‘irregular’ about the voting numbers. When someone campaigns hard, the numbers reflect this. Evidence came forth in a court-called witness that helped the majority conclude that McHugh was in fact involved and benefitted from the election fraud—I find it unacceptable that one can find evidence of a conviction after the disqualification has been declared.
However, taking the evidence that was brought forth against McHugh into consideration; I feel the court failed to look at the facts with absolute scrutiny"
If you have an issue with me, please feel free to meet me and Also if the senate groins, then I must be doing something right
Deek,
You're doing it wrong. This is how you quote:
"The Court has come to a final decision.
We unanimously agree that the Election Commission violated numerous procedures in ruling that the candidates should be disqualified. As such, we overturn the disqualification by the Election Commission. However, pursuant to the Court's independent investigatory power into election fraud (Election Code, Art. 5, Sec. 10, cl. 4), this Court made the following determinations: the Court rules 4-1 that Laxmi Ramana participated in election fraud, 5-0 that Brandon Balwant participated in election fraud, and 3-2 that Michael McHugh participated in election fraud. As such, all three candidates are hereby disqualified. Unfortunately, due to the joint ticket, Mohammad Aijaz will also be disqualified. To avoid needlessly drawing out an already strained election season, this Court will not order a new election and will allow the second-place finisher in these races to assume their respective offices.
Pursuant to the Rules of Court (Art. 3, Sec. 6, cl. 5), a formal opinion will be forthcoming within 12 class days.
Furthermore, the decision of the Court of Appeals is final, pursuant to Art. 6, Sec. 5 of the SGA Constitution.
I speak for the Court when I say that we delivered this judgement with heavy hearts. It is truly regrettable to discover that fellow students aspiring to represent the student body succumbed to these temptations."
Also, the case proved more of a bias of McHugh to wards others, than vice-versa. For your comments on making the senate groan, that's just sad. You are only "doing something right" if people don't want to listen to your never-ending spew of pointless commentary? Tell me more about how you got elected 🙂
Oh wait… You didn't. Because people don't want to represent them. You're the helpless wannabe politician that was picked up by McHugh because no party, that was actually worth anything, wanted you.
Sincerely,
Concerned Cougar
That is what Killroy have said (who tried to kick out Cameron McHugh) , I am talking about the other judges. Also Chris, please post in your name, your not fooling anyone
That was the decision of the court. What does it matter if, at some point, Cameron was up for impeachment it removal? Kilroy is the chief justice and has been involved in SGA for years, it is inevitable that at some point in time any member who has been around that long would be involved directly or indirectly with a removal of somebody from office.
As for my identity, are you just upset that your old pen name has been taken?
Sincerely,
Concerned Cougar
No, I have no need for pen names. I answer on my own terms stating who I am. He was not just involved, but spearhead the movement to get rid of Cameron McHugh
I shown the evidence to family members who are lawyers and they were shocked that anyone could convict someone on the lack of evidence
If the senate groins, you must be doing something terribly, terribly wrong.
This fee consolidation will end up being cheaper for the school in the long run, will cost students the same amount overall, and make it easier for students to plan financially for their degrees. I don't see the issue. Yes, no two degrees, from varying majors, cost the same and this has apparently not been well known. All the university has done was categorize degrees based on average cost, and then in a broader spectrum, grouped them into tiers of cost. It makes accounting and financial services more streamlined and gives more focus back to the students, where it is more deserved.
As for the comments about crediting freezed tuition to Michael McHugh (who I must add, is NOT the President of SGA), he had absolutely nothing to do with it. In fact, despite his campaign promises, there is nothing he could have done to effect our rates for the coming year. The only thing Michael McHugh was successful in freezing was the ability of some of our students to vote.
Also, this was brought forth to many student and faculty organizations. So the opportunity to voice your concerns and opinions were there.
What the issue is? Don’t pretend engineering majors etc. are more expensive when there are decade old labs and most “labs” only consist of a few computers. Every department has this. It’s a new way to rip-off students..
Really Christopher? Just like you and Cedric said it was impossible for the University to freeze tuition? While McHugh said it was possible for the University to do so? All I heard from you guys is that if the Administration said no, then it can't be done till shocker it could be done!
Also read the dissenting opinion of the court, there is a very strong case that McHugh was innocent and had nothing to do with this except piss of Lee
I will speak for myself, and suggest that you not make your own quotations of what you may have preferred me to have spoken. Anybody involved in SGA, or anybody who checks their emails or the daily cougar, knew that tuition and fees were going to be frozen for the coming year. This was out before elections. As for the conversation between the two of us at my Town Hall, you misquote and misconstrue. I stated that the tuition and fees were based off of state funding that we currently have no control over. We are working to increase state funding for the university within the coming year because it is a legislative year.
I suggest you stick to the actual conversation next time, that way you don't misunderstand my rather direct statements. As for any further comments regarding the case against McHugh and his party, I stand by the decision of the court, and will be working with the rest of the elected student government as we improve our ruling documents. SGA is about empowering students, and we can only do so by protecting the rights and the best interests our constituents. You can quote me on that, Derar.
Really? , I remember one of the reason why we can't lower tuition from our argument is the lack of endowment. I made the case that we do not need more state funding to lower tuition.
I also brought up that there is little to no correlation between state funding per pupual and lower tuition. Look at California as a prime example. Our and UT Austin out of state is less than our in state, despite after the budget cuts and that Californian colleges, especially UC Berkeley have higher endowments. There is little merit to that idea
Innocent until proven guilty and beyond all reasonable doubt is something I hold dear, the sga court did not follow those phrases from what I saw
SGA is about empowerment students, something I seen you guys do not (the smoking bill, the long Resistance to the grade replacement, and the years long limbo of good samaritan?)
Oh yeah you could forget your head you screams COOG PRIDE, and yet spends 60000 dollars on a pitiful app that the Computer Science and Management Information Systems major could do better. Yeah empower students, you mean spend their money and try to tell them what to do.
Derar,
As far as the app goes, we have had it done by students in the past. They graduated and left us with an app that is in dire need of improvement. This deal, which I was not apart of, is to make an all-inclusive app that is more beneficial to students and is made by a company that is actually going to be held responsible for updating and improving the app rather then graduating.
I have given you my final statements regarding the judgement. If you believe in innocent until proven guilty, then I believe you should stand by the decision of the court as well. I have no need to argue with you. Please feel free to continue coming up to the senate with your mall references. Other than that, please stop putting words in my mouth, when they aren't mine.
I seen the evidence, and it won't hold in any court of law (been on jury before). Prove to me beyond all reasonable doubt that he is guilty, which you can not. My aunt Lamis Deek has laughed at this.
You mean the app in which was made for a class for a student's project that the university did not fund? Please, talk to the MIS professors, the CS professors, and work it out with them first. They can set up classes or student orgs to keep up the updates for us.
Look at what students at other colleges made, I belive that our students who has beaten http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_phone/b/window…
I prefer to come back with a bang, not a whimper btw
Those words are yours, own up to them
What words?! Dude, I don't think you understand this, I am done arguing with you. I left my comment on here to place my stance. I don't care what your aunt thinks or what her name is. And for god's sake, Derar, we are NOT a court of law! Being on a jury at some point in your life doesn't make you an expert in all things judicial! Oh, and please, for all future intents and purposes, read your messages before you send them! I spend twice as much as time as I should when reading your replies because they are infested with typos. You act like you are educated, show it. If having the app created was such a horrible idea and waste of money, then why did the university approve of it?! There are opinions other than your own, with more experience than you, who decided that this was the better option. Next time, you take the lead instead of complaining in the aftermath. I'm done with this conversation.
"And for god's sake, Derar, we are NOT a court of law! "
Your accusing people of something that if deemed guilty could ruin their lives. That if they actually are (and I believe they are) innocent, then all their work was for a waste and lives are messed up. I take these issues very seriously, and accusing anyone of election fraud is something should be treated very seriously.
If I had any reason to believe that McHugh did perform election fraud, everyone else in my party would admit that I will turn on him in a instant
"I don't care what your aunt thinks or what her name is"
She a human rights lawyer who deals with a lot of accusations against people, so she has some knowledge on this sort of cases. I know you don't care, but every person of law I talked to said the evidence can not prove anything as it stands.
"Being on a jury at some point in your life doesn't make you an expert in all things judicial! "
It doesn't, but I also know that it takes a lot of evidence to convict someone because we want to make sure they actually are guilty or innocent.
"If having the app created was such a horrible idea and waste of money, then why did the university approve of it?!"
The same guys who wants to increase administrators, and have security guys fine professors and students who don't smoke in the approved area? The same guys who prevented Professor Rogers from having his excel class for years until it turns out his class is one of the most valuable and overbooked classes this university have ever seen? (The List goes on)
While you scream out COOG PRIDE, I actually trust my fellow MIS majors, the CS and the CIS majors, and the professors to do a good job. The app was made in a class. If we want to improve it, we request and work with the professors to do so. The Sales team, the MBA team, the Cougar Fund team, and many other academic teams have proven themselves to be number one. I think our fellow students can build an top notch app, had we actually worked with them.
"! I spend twice as much as time as I should when reading your replies because they are infested with typos."
I am lazy in that aspect.
I was only joking about McHugh, I just found it funny that something a politician said become true
I’m sorry but if you choose a degree that is completely useless that is your problem. If you want increased opportunities at finding work along with better pay you need to lose your skinny jeans, ditch the fedora, drop your paintbrush and pick up a calculus book…
This is a university isn’t it? Where are the educated folks hiding when they make decisions like this?
I don’t really know what to think of this, but what I DO know is that we have outdated labs etc. And most “labs” consist of a couple of computers in one room. UH would only pocket the extra money. It will certainly not be invested anywhere. It’s been like this and it won’t change.
As a second year Engineering graduate on campus, it will be fair to say that my college experience is a nightmare. Not only do we sacrifice long hours studying to make the world a better place, we get zero time to enjoy any event on campus. While other majors party and enjoy "4 years of the real life" , the engineers on campus are busy trying to survive a 75-85% drop out rate. We don't need new labs and facilities, those are mainly for researchers on campus. As engineers all we need is our brains, and it would be nice to have a star buck's in our college.
As for fairness between majors, why penalize those who work harder? I can't fathom the repercussions that will be generated by these foolish attempts to fix a financial crisis created not by the majors, but by poor management and future planning. For those on here who whine they will not be able to find work when they graduate, stop expecting the world to put bread into your hands and learn to adapt.
It is true we make more when we graduate, but why make us suffer for being Beasts. We are the bread winners on campus, We "ARE THE BRINGERS OF TOMORROW"-Neil Degrasse Tyson
Yes, yes, YES.. I completely agree with you.. Especially about the Starbucks thing.
Over the past five years (2007-2011) the average number of graduating seniors from CLASS majors was 1,823/year.
The average number of graduating Business majors was 1,083/year
The average number of graduating Engineering majors was a whopping 230/year.
(That's about 7.926 times less than CLASS majors)
Make of this what you will.
(Architecture = 133, Education = 499, HRM = 234, NSM = 447, Technology = 400)
Source: http://www.uh.edu/ir/reports/facts-at-a-glance/in…
SGA is srs bisnis.
Pretty sure all of you SGA clowns have declared majors in lib arts… That’s pretty much the only way you’d ever have enough time to actual do anything besides study.
In all seriousness (my previous statement wasn’t a joke for the record) what are your declared majors? Your aspiring political careers imply you aren’t involved in anything contributing to society…
I am an Accounting and Management Information Systems Double Major who is in the honors college and doing business research this summer. I do study and work with no sleep, and my main focus is beat down tuition anyway I can. Simple as that, Chris Holly is an pre business/law major if I remember correctly. However these are not useless majors, and despite my extremely well justified dislike for some SGA members. We all have other things in our lives, we don’t take useless majors, and most of us don’t want something to do with politics after this. We all have different reasons of why we do such things, and none of us are “clowns”
Love all the engineers bitching on here. How many of yall are actually going to graduate in engineering? How many of yall are going to switch to a lib art degree? Engineering majors always thinking they are the jewel to the U. Clowns
i don't know much about this situation but i'm sure that it's not what the admins say. surely it's just another way to squeeze more money out of students while saying you're doing them a favor. go coogs
May I friend you, it is rare to see someone like you on these fourms
I have a question — I'm not well-educated on where all my tuition money goes or how each class differs, but I am aware that my math and natural sciences classes have higher section fees than my other courses already. How does that play into the added cost differences this proposes? And what difference would it really make? I'm a CLASS major, and yes, I'd like lower tuition, but I still find it unfair to make what admittedly generally are the more difficult majors cost more as well. I started NSM. I don't think raising tuition for some and lowering it for others who "deserve" it would really improve the university's financial situation, if it changes it, on top of everything else.
how are technology students more expensive than NSM students, technology students do not require labs and most of the class that are offered are offered as hybrid or online so those students are barely in classes
Exactly. I find this outrageous. Costs are already high, and this would just encourage people looking for engineering and technology degrees to try a different university instead. As a technology major, I don't see why we cost any more than NSM either.
As a MET I don't see why the costs are so high either, when we seem not to have working equipment all the time for classes or labs.
We do have labs and equipment that requires money. I know just about every class has a 3 hour seperate lab on top of the class it self. I have had only one online class in the COT and a couple of Hybrid that just meant you didn’t 3 hours of lecture but still had the dang lab of 3 hours. I know that MET and Electrical Power Technology do that.
Now whether the money I spend is actually going to the equipment well I think that is very debatable.