Eastern will ask the Board of Trustees for a 3.5 percent tuition increase to compensate for a projected decline in state funding, interim President Lou Hencken said Tuesday.

The proposed increase, which Hencken will present to Eastern’s Student Senate Wednesday, would push one semester of full-time undergraduate tuition and fees at Eastern from $2,263.25 to $2,315.30.

The university’s latest request to raise tuition came during the interim president’s first State of the University Address.

“I have stated many times publicly that a tuition increase should be a last resort,” Hencken told the crowd composed mostly of faculty, staff and administrators. “If we are to maintain the academic quality of this institution, I believe we have no other choice, no other alternative but to recommend an additional 3.5 percent tuition increase for the fall semester 2002.”

The hike, coupled with a projected enrollment increase of 50 students, is intended to generate approximately $1.3 million and alleviate the university’s projected shortfall, Hencken said, stressing the importance of providing students with the class offerings they need to graduate in a timely manner.

The funding created by the increase would also allow the university to boost equipment funds, raise spending on deferred maintenance and possibly allow Eastern’s financial aid office to use some of the money for programs designed to offset the increased expense for students, Hencken said.

The president’s request marks the second time Eastern has sought to raise next year’s tuition. A 5 percent tuition increase along with $38.20 increase in mandatory student fees was approved by the university’s Board of Trustees in October.

However, at that time university administrators were not fully aware of the impact dwindling state revenues would have on funding for higher education. In the months following, Gov. George Ryan asked Eastern to return funding this year and pay employee insurance costs, resulting in a total callback of approximately $2.3 million.

To compensate for this year’s callback, the university slashed its deferred maintenance budget, left some positions open and saved money on lower costs associated with a warm winter.

However, Hencken said the university cannot continue such practices next year, especially when the Illinois Board of Higher Education’s recommended 2003 spending allocation for Eastern is about $600,000 less than what the university started with this year.

The president also indicated the request is relatively reasonable at a time when other state schools have or are seeking to raise tuition by much larger margins.

“If I recommended 20 percent like other schools, who will remain anonymous, recommended, we would probably have enough to do everything we needed plus then some. But I’m not going to do that,” Hencken said in an interview after the address.

The University of Illinois raised tuition by 10 percent at all its campuses while Southern Illinois University is seeking a 18 percent tuition increase for next year, followed by an increase of 16 percent the following year and smaller increases in 2005 and 2006.

While Hencken maintained Eastern’s increase is needed to maintain academic and overall quality at the university, the president fears a rising student cost at public universities may be a growing national trend.

“That troubles me a bit,” he said. “It troubles me because I don’t want to price people out of going to school.”

The increase will now be presented before the Student Senate. While the administration does not need the senate’s approval, Hugh O’Hara, student body president, said senate members should be able to see the need for the increase.

Eastern’s Board of Trustees has final say on the increase. Hencken wouldn’t speculate whether the board would approve the proposed increase, but said he had contacted the trustees to inform them of the situation.