A $3 million shortfall in revenue might raise NIU tuition as much as $300 per year if the Board of Regents adopts an increase plan designed to meet the rising cost of university operations.

The increase, which would take effect in January 1989, would be $150 per semester if the $300 increase is adopted. NIU President John LaTourette said it is “too early to pin down an exact figure,” but the $300 figure is an estimation based on rising costs.

There are certain university expenses every year which are unavoidable, LaTourette said. These include employee sick leave, Medicare contributions, maintenance and utilities. All Regent universities (NIU, Illinois State University and Sangamon State University) need to raise revenue, he said.

NIU is incurring $2 million to $3 million in these unavoidable costs and must allow for them in planning budget requirements, LaTourette said. “If you want to cover all the bases, we need an increase in tuition of about 20 percent.”

Although the increase cannot take effect until January, LaTourette said the Regents have to do something. “To maintain quality and accomodate students, a tuition increase is unavoidable.”

Support for the tuition increase was nearly unanimous as the Regents adopted a motion to make tuiton the focus of its September meeting.

SSU President Durward Long said the matter was too pressing to be put off. “We should adopt a tuiton increase today,” he said.

Dan Wagner, ISU student Regent, said he was in favor of a tuition hike but offered an alternative—a tuition surcharge.

“A tuition increase is binding,” Wagner said. Once raised, tuition cannot be brought back down. With a surcharge, however, the increase does not have to be repeated. “You can take it (the increase) off in subsequent semesters,” Wagner said.

LaTourette said a surcharge is “feasible” and “indicates to the legislature that the increase could be rescinded with later funding,” he said.

The surcharge method was implemented in Ohio with mixed results, LaTourette said. Ohio residents had “reasonable expectations for some legislative action (such as funding).”

However, in Illinois, “two years of demonstrated need for more funding has had little effect on the General Assembly,” LaTourette said.

Despite the general consensus for the need to raise tuition, NIU Student Regent Nick Valadez said he was against the tuition hike and the surcharge.