About 15-20 students chanted "shame, shame" during a meeting of the UMass Board of Trustees in Boston.
The image of astronaut Col. Catherine Coleman is seen on a large screen at the 141st commencement of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst last month. The UMass Board of Trustees voted in Boston Wednesday to implement a 7.5 percent fee increase for the coming school year.
BOSTON - Facing bitter student protests, trustees for the University of Massachusetts on Monday approved 7.5 percent increase in mandatory student fees.
With about 15 to 20 students holding signs and chanting "shame, shame" during a meeting at the university's Boston campus, trustees voted 9-4 to approve the increase recommended by outgoing President Jack M. Wilson and first approved last week by the administration and finance committee of trustees.
S. Paul Reville, secretary of education for Gov. Deval L. Patrick and a trustee, said members made an "agonizing decision" to hike fees to help close $54 million budget gap for the five-campus system. Most of the shortfall was caused by the loss of $37.8 million in federal stimulus funds.
"We all agree that fee increases are the last resort," Reville said.
Students waved signs in the back of the room and often interrupted trustees with biting criticism and loud boos.
"I would appreciate respect," said James J. Karam, chairman of the trustees.
"I would too," Keegan B. O'Brien, a student at the Boston campus, shot back.
Under the fee increase, in-state undergraduate students at the flagship Amherst campus would pay $880 additionally each year. Such students paid $11,732 in tuition and fees during the past academic year. That does not include room and board.
The fee increase would raise $26 million to help eliminate the budget gap. Budget reductions, including 370 job cuts, will also save $28 million, Wilson said.
“Our challenge is to preserve quality for our students, while at the same time doing everything we can to maintain access and affordability," Wilson told trustees. "Addressing the budget shortfall with equal amounts of new fee revenue and budget cuts is a balanced and responsible approach."
Wilson also reaffirmed the university’s commitment to increasing student financial aid.
Wilson and the university’s chancellors have pledged to devote 29 percent of the money generated by the fee increase to additional financial aid, which would entirely offset the effects of the increase for some students and blunt its effect for many others, according to Wilson's office.
Students said it was wrong to impose a substantial fee hike for the second time in three years.
"It's coming on the heels of a massive fee increase just two years ago," said Benjamin Taylor, 27, a student at the Amherst campus. "The state is privatizing public education."
Charles T. Peterson, 30, of Chicopee, who just received his bachelor's degree at the Amherst campus, said trustees are out of touch with ordinary students.
"I've got $30,000 in debt," Peterson said. "I don't want to see the next graduating class burdened by more debt."
The students' protest was much more muted than two years ago when trustees approved $1,500 fee increase, later offset with rebates up to $1,100 on a sliding scale, depending on financial need.