How is your tuition money spent?

The beginning of another school year brings with it a host of new things-new books, new classes, new friends and the ever-present promise of a new start. When it comes to money, however, the story remains predictably old and the same. Students have none.

After the usual round of payments, loans and back-to-school purchases, bank statements start dropping into the single digits. Education is not cheap.

At Tech, tuition alone for this year's entering freshmen topped out at $3,892 for in-state students and $19,238 for out-of-state students, a seven-percent increase from last year. Returning undergraduate students footed a bill of $3,820 if they were in-state and $18,880 if they were out-of-state, a five percent tuition increase over last year. Clearly, college comes with a hefty price tag.

"We're projecting $132 million [in revenue] from tuition and fees for the 2007 fiscal year, [which is] 13 percent of our entire $991.4 million annual budget," said James Kirk, director of the Office of Budget Planning and Administration. "Of the $132 million projection, $115 million is from just tuition."

The numbers are fairly staggering. So where does all the money go?

According to Kirk, all tuition dollars go into a general fund known as "Resident Instruction," which is further enriched by state allocations and indirect cost revenue. Tuition is not earmarked for specific functions within the fund, but "becomes part of the whole pot," Kirk said.

Money from this "pot" is used for instruction, research, public service, facilities and support purposes. In other words, Resident Instruction provides funds for all of Tech's colleges (Architecture, Computing, Engineering, Liberal Arts, Management and Sciences) as well as money for the library, administrative units, student support and plant operations.

Who decides how the money is spent?

"[Institute President Wayne Clough] has full discretion of how to allocate tuition and other Resident Instruction revenue," Kirk said. "The three key players in developing recommendations for the President are [the provost], senior vice president [of administration and finance] Bob Thompson and [associate] vice president [of budget and funding] Steve Swant. Funds are allocated at the college or other division level, and each dean or other division head has substantial discretion of how to allocate these funds internally among schools and departments."

Students can take part in the budgetary process in several ways.

The undergraduate student body president, currently Alison Graab, may provide input through the Institute Budget and Planning Committee.

Students can talk to the deans' offices of their respective colleges, or contact the budget director.

The Mandatory Student Fee Advisory Committee, which provides input to Clough on annual mandatory fee proposals and the budgets they fund, acts as another voice for the student body.

Additionally, students can help formulate the Student Activities Fee budget through the Student Government Association (SGA).

Still, no matter how much of a say students might have on Tech's budget and tuition, it is unlikely that the cost of attending college will ever go anywhere but up. However, there is some cause for cheer.

The Board of Regents has approved a new program that guarantees a fixed tuition rate for incoming freshmen. And, according to the latest fact sheet on the Institute's budget, Tech's level of tuition and fees remains lower than many of its peer institutions.