The Board of Trustees approved a 5.9 percent tuition increase, but also approved a 3 percent salary increase for Loyola employees for the 2009-2010 budget at a recent meeting.

“The dollar value of our stocks, bond, etcetera have declined in value,” said Jay Calamia, vice president for finance and administration.

With less money to withdraw, the university must adjust their spending and increase our revenue to offset this reduced amount, Calamia said.

Tuition for 2008-2009 was $27,168, and the increase means students will pay $28,770 for 2009-2010. Calamia said the percentage of financial aid to tuition will remain the same.

In 2007, the unrestricted endowment, money the administration can use for any purpose, was valued at $260 million. In November of 2008 the unrestricted endowment was valued at $160 million, a $100 million drop, Calamia said.

The employee salary increase is not related to the decline in the market value of the endowment.

“The university must remain competitive in retaining and recruiting employees,” Calamia said.

After Katrina, there were no salary increases for Loyola employees, while other colleges and universities raised their employees’ salaries, said Calamia.

Still, the drop of the investments will affect certain operations, said the Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., university president.

“Let’s say your department wanted to redo your seminar room. We may not able to do it this year,” he said. “I’ve put some reduction in operational costs to keep the budget.”

However, the administration plans to recover 5 percent by at least 2012 from the 10 percent decrease of this year’s budget.

Calamia said the administration is still planning the 2009-2010 budget.

“I was already looking to transfer because of the amount of tuition and it just makes me think I need to transfer even more,” said Deidre Molin, mass communication sophomore.

“I love it here, the only reasons I’m considering transferring is financial aid and tuition,” she added.

However, tuition at Loyola is increasing at the same rate as most other universities nationwide. According to a Trends in College Pricing 2008 study, the one-year percentage increase for a private four-year school is 5.9 percent.

“I think it’s unfortunate because we struggle to pay for it, but also we are all in this economic crisis so everyone will have to make sacrifices,” said Dana King, accounting sophomore.

“There’s nothing we can really do about it, but just to hope that the economy turns around,” he said.

“I’m pretty confident that as our economy recovers, the value of the endowment will recover,” Wildes said.

Andrea Castillo can be reached at [email protected]