Campus costs: Sorry, no big raises

Despite an historically large budget deficit, New Hampshire Department heads have asked the Governor for huge increases across state government. While these wish lists don't have much to do with the budget actually proposed by the Governor or adopted by the Legislature, the University System is seeking a 9% increase next year, drawing criticism from the editorial page of the Union Leader:

Yet USNH officials displayed a tin ear by merely giving lip service to the slowing economy while asking last month for such a big increase in state aid and reiterating the plan to raise tuition by 5 percent.

USNH also boasts that its cost of attendance (tuition, fees, room and board) rose less than 6 percent a year this decade. But that is well above the rate of inflation. Each year USNH schools get a little less affordable for the average New Hampshire family.