Staff Writer

With state officials gearing up for another difficult budget year, officials at local State University of New York schools said it's too soon to tell how funding might affect students.

"We don't know if there is or there isn't going to be a budget gap," said Carol Blazina, spokeswoman for the State University College at Oneonta. "We'll just have to wait and see."

When the SUNY Board of Trustees met this week, no mention was made of raising tuition at midyear. The trustees, however, didn't rule out the idea of raising tuition for the 2002-03 school year, the first time in seven years.

Local state officials said that is a possibility.

"A number of factors point to a very tight and difficult state budget," said state Sen. James Seward, R-Milford. "We don't know the size of the problem yet."

Assemblyman Bill Magee, D-Nelson, said a request for a tuition hike wouldn't be unusual.

"There are valid arguments on both sides of the issue," he said. "But we've always resisted and rejected (a tuition hike)."

But, college officials said, although they plan continually for the next year, it's too early to say what might happen.

"We do have a planning committee that makes specific recommendations," said Kim MacLeod, a spokeswoman for the State University College of Technology at Delhi. "But we can't say what will happen."

Tuition has remained at $3,400 since 1995. Since then, though, fees for students have risen regularly.

Some SUCO students said earlier this week they wouldn't mind a tuition increase — as long as programs and services are not cut.

"They're charging so little anyway," said Bryan Stringer, a sophomore sociology major. "A little bit more wouldn't hurt."

But, said student Rebecca Rent, some programs could be cut to save money, and no one would notice.

"Certain programs don't get a lot of attention," she said. "There are things that students don't go to — I'd rather get rid of those than pay more money."

The problem comes in, Seward said, when the state keeps tuition the same for seven years, and then tries to raise it all in one lump sum.

In 1995, tuition was raised $750.

Seward said he'd rather see any necessary increases happen gradually.

"Frankly, I would like to see a tuition policy," he said. "Everyone would know what their tuition would be over the next three or four years."

Magee said the Assembly could receive any number of proposals on how to fund SUNY, involving multi-year increases, increases to out-of-state students or one for in-state students. The governor usually presents his proposal in January, he said.

"If there were to be (a tuition increase), I think we ought to do it over a number of years," Magee said.

Meanwhile, local SUNY officials said careful planning is helping them get through this academic year with few increases in funding.

In July, the SUNY Board of Trustees approved the 2002-03 budget that included only a 1 percent increase in funding for campuses.

"We were on target with our budget," MacLeod said. "We were able to meet the budget the way we planned."

At SUCO, Blazina said campus officials used "creative ways" to cut spending without hindering the quality of education.

"Academics is our first priority," she said, noting that the college has saved money on "a lot of littles."

"We're fixing all the leaks, keeping the campus up to snuff," she added. "We're keeping the college efficient."

Blazina said she has heard nothing about tuition increases or budget cuts.

"Any cuts to higher education is a worst-case scenario," she said. "That's an investment in everyone's future."

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Carolyn Norton can be reached at cnorton@thedailystar.com or (607) 441-7218.