Ohio Northern University - Northern Yearbook (Ada, OH)

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Many Students Only Look At The Price In The Catalogue, They Never Consider Anything Else COLLEGE - HOW MUCH DOES IT REALLY COST? For many students the cost of going to college limits not only their choice of higher education but how long they can attend. With the knowledge that a college degree is a valuable asset, one that will play an impor¬ tant roll in obtaining a good job in the con¬ tinually demanding job market, the cost fac¬ tor is an important one for many ONU stu¬ dents. For most students this leads to a very important question: How much should a stu¬ dent expect to spend when at Ohio Northern and what are they getting for their money? As with any other major purchase, one must take the entire situation into account and not just a single aspect. This practice applies to college expenses too! The figures listed in the college catalog list a major por¬ tion of the cost, but what about the EXTRAS? These too must be taken into account if we are to get a clear picture. According to a random survey, students spend on the average between $2439 and $1405 per quarter to attend ONU (this in¬ cludes room and board on the 21 meal plan). This is the figure everyone looks at but many times they fail to allow for the other items that are also considered part of the college experience , and over the course of foui years, it can add up to a substantial amounl of money. Textbooks and reference materials that must be purchased is the first major item that comes to mind. According to the university catalog $150 should be alloted per quarter to buy books. Once again this figure varies from college to college and many times used books are harder to find for upper level courses, thus forcing students to buy the higher priced new books . In addition to textbooks many students also find it advan¬ tageous to subscribe to engineering or phar¬ macological journals, the Wall Street Journal, the Law Review, or other carrer-related pub¬ lications. These publications can run $10-$20 per quarter. School supplies such as highlighters, note¬ book paper, folders, typing paper, pens, pencils, and erasers are only a few of the additional items needed by college students. The cost for these supplies is about $20 per quarter for the average student. The items that most students seem to spend a lot of money on are food and drink. Many students often feel the need for a pizza or sub after a long night of studying or if they really didn ' t care for what SAGA was serving. Many students find that vending machines have a way of eating large amounts of small change and buying a snack or a can of pop everyday soon adds up. Occasionally stu¬ dents decide to take advantage of the kitchenettes maintained in each dorm by cooking their own meal. This usually entails a quick trip to one of the local groceries for a few items. On the average, students spend $35 per quarter on food. Going off to college for the first time brings up another question for most students, what to wear. Most people like to be somewhat in fashion, so the purchase of clothing brings up something else on which students can spend money. One very popular item for most stu¬ dents is an ONU sweatshirt or T-shirt, both of which can be bought at the university book¬ store. For those people who are associated with a fraternity or sorority, there are many items available that reflect their respective affiliation, On the average students will spend around $25 a month on clothing. Like vending machines, washers and dryers consume large quantities of change, and even though laundry usually isn ' t high on the list of major expenses it should still be taken into consideration. For the student who does two loads of laundry per week, it takes about $20 per quarter to have clean clothes. Such items as refrigerators, carpet, crates, shelves and other items are also purchased by many students at the beginning of their freshman year. Throughout college there will always be incidentials like cards, gifts, statio¬ nery, computer disks, cups, and mugs that students will purchase. Estimating this miscel¬ laneous spending is very difficult and once again depends on the student. Over the course of several years, students will find that they are paying a substantial amount of money to attend ONU, but many wonder how the university uses that money to provide the educational, religious, and so¬ cial atmosphere students expect. Exactly how the university breaks down its expenditures is difficult to pinpoint, and care should be taken in considering exactly what figures and percentages mean. It should also be noted that the residence halls and McIn¬ tosh Center are run as self-supporting units and are not figured into the dollar values and percentages listed below. The tuition fees amount to $14,082,000 which is only 76% of the university ' s total in¬ come. The next two major sources of income are endowment earnings earnings on short-term maturity, and gifts grants. These account for 9.5% and 8.5% of the total in¬ come respectively. Summer school, fees, and other sources make-up the remaining income. While tuition makes up a substantial portion of the budget it is not easy to distinguish ex¬ actly where each dollar goes. It can be noted however, that if the university ' s only income were tuition dollars, they would only cover expenses equal to the amount of the two largest expenses: personnel and student aid. All other expenses must be funded from the other sources mentioned above. Another important figure is the amount of tuition in¬ come that the university returns to students in the form of student financial aid and through student employement. In dollars, that is about $4,184,000 or 23% of tuition dollars re¬ ceived. Expenditures are broken down into many general categories, each of which usually cover a specific area. Personnel costs which include all salaries and fringe benefits, amount to $11,079,000 (59.5%) of the total budget. Student aid, which includes the work study program amounts to $3,184,000 (17.2%) of total expenditures. The third lar¬ gest category is utilities and telephone bills which over the course of a year amount to $1,015,000 (5.5%). Periodicals, newspapers and books, and other library acquisitions for both libraries add up quickly to form $445,000 (2.4%) of the budget. These four categories alone account for 85% of all expenditures. Other items of interest to the students may include the $355,000 spent on maintenance and upkeep of university buildings and grounds. While this may seem to be a lot of money it is only 1.9% of the total budget. Did you, as a student, ever think about how much money is spent on university publica¬ tions which play an important factor in in¬ forming people about ONU? These costs ac¬ count for 1.1% of the budget or $199,000. Now that you ' ve thought about printing costs did you ever consider how much it costs to mail all the pamphlets, catalogs, and newsletters? Over the course of a year the university spends $165,000 on postage, this amounts to 0.9% of the budget. Another category that directly affects students is the amount spent on programming and activities which are sponsored by the university. The cost of this planning is $205,000 (1.1%) of the total budget. The remaining 10% of the mon¬ ey is spent in other various categories that maintain university standards. Editor ' s Note: Please realize when reading this article that the a mount that students spend varies according to each individual and that areas that are listed are meant to encourage students to look at the overall picture. The figures on university income and spending were provided courtesy of Dr. Has¬ sell and the Office of Financial Affairs. 22

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Many students take part during weekly cha¬ pel services. These services take place every Thursday at 11 o ' clock. The doorway at the end of a hall — is it the end of a college career or the beginning of