Discussions about NIU’s tuition rates for next year will begin later this month, said Eddie Williams, executive vice president of Finance and Facilities.

School officials have said tuition rates are not likely to improve for students next year.

NIU’s tuition and fee rates for the 2003-’04 school year are about $679 more than the average national college cost, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

The average college cost for tuition and fees is $4,694 for the average state resident. Tuition for an NIU student who is an Illinois resident is $5,373.

Room and board costs for an NIU student are $4,550 and the national average is $5,942.

Tuition rates are determined by the universities’ needs, Williams said.

“We have to maintain our commitment to keep costs down,” Williams said.

Ellen Vogelgesang, a first-year music major, said she expected tuition to rise while she was in school, but it doesn’t make it easier.

She said she works at the library and teaches piano to help pay for tuition.

“My life savings is almost out,” she said.

Graduate student Grace Pinckheard also said she didn’t expect such an increase. She said she is more worried about when her daughter, who is a freshman in high school, will go to college.

“If it is going up at this rate, what will it be then?” she said.

The university also will look at how much money it receives from the state.

Williams said a 2 percent cut for next year is already in discussion.

Next month, the university will have its appropriation hearing, at which the university will meet with the legislature.

“As a parent who has a student at NIU, I want it to be as affordable as possible,” Williams said.

NIU also has to look at providing quality programs and quality services, he said. It also has to look at providing salary increases to faculty and staff members. With these comes cost increases, he said.

Tuition rates will be discussed differently next year because of the new Truth in Tuition law, which requires fixed tuition for four years at a public university.

For the state, NIU usually falls in the middle. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign typically is the most expensive.

For out-of-state students, the average college cost is $11,740. For out-of-state students at NIU, the tuition cost is $9,275.

Director of Admissions Robert Burk said that is because the state doesn’t help with the tuition of out-of-state students, so they end up paying more for their education.