F News Question
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Expenditure Distribution 2001-02*
Total Expenditures: $64,779,600
Student Financial Aid: $9,846,100
Employee Benefits: $4,271,600
Campus Security: $2,699,300
Student Services: $6,695,700
Administration: $2,604,400
Debt Funding:
$6,330,600
Operations:
$6,088,100
Instruction:
$19,227,400
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Revenue Distribution
2001-02**
Total Revenues: $61,673,500
Tuition and Fees: $51,137,900
Residence Hall Income: $4,589,800
Endowment:
$1,160,400
Gifts/Grants:
$1,395,700
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Compiled by Lamaretta Simmons
Where do you think your SAIC tuition money goes? Is
tuition at SAIC fair, or overly expensive? Do you feel you get the most
bang for your bucks?
Certainly not the
half-functional-slower-than-running-up-the-stairs elevators. Nor the
residue-ridden joke of computers in the student lounge. No, I've got
it. It goes to the paint job covering up all the graffiti in the
bathrooms...
-Dlee@artic.edu
I think it's ridiculous how much we pay to simply
receive quality education. For people who are aspiring to go somewhere
in anything to pay 30k for college, how can anyone ever go here?? And
if they get the opportunity to attend this place, how the hell do they
pay their loans?! I wonder how much going to college will be when I
have kids. Personally, I don't think I receive that much bang for my
buck from this school. I mean 30k-plus just to have some pretentious
teachers look down on me, to finger-paint and have bad crits?
Please!
-Rachel McDermott, Freshman, VisCom
Doesn't tuition go directly into salaries,
administration, and useless real estate? If the studio equipment was
better, the high tuition rate might be fair. As it stands it's as
questionable as the stability of the school's easels.
-Elizabeth
Clark, painting student
My view on the cost of school is very different
from the majority of people who attend here because of my family
situation. I am not the only student here that has managed to
financially sustain themselves despite having $0 expected family
contribution, but I'm definitely not the majority. It is really
difficult for me to justify the extreme cost, but at the same time it
isn't anything new to me or anyone else who has very little money. The
entire United States is structured this way and it is always hard for
anyone with financial problems to get an equal opportunity in
education. I do feel that the school should invest more in individual
students of severe need. The reality that money keeps so many talented
individuals from having the opportunity to be here always lurks in the
back of my mind. I am standing on the line and know that a couple
dollars could easily push me either way. It is extremely frustrating...
. This place and this reality is something I never thought I could
manage to be a part of, but here I am and I will fight to keep myself
here. ... I won't let money stop me, but I know that people do.
-Coral Marie, student, Fashion
This is my second semester as a student at SAIC.
... I receive no support from my parents except $20 now and then and
phone card privileges. Finding financial aid was very hard, as the
federal government expects my family's estimated contribution to my
tuition to be about $7000. Fat chance of that happening. My
expectations of this school were so high when I came out here. ... But
I am now beginning to realize that my expectations were too high. The
cost of this school far exceeds the education I feel I am getting. The
VisCom department is highly unorganized, badly equipped, with some
instructors who don't seem willing to educate. I feel I am expected to
know everything already, and this is just practice. In this department,
nothing is provided. I pay for all my supplies, all my prints... What
does the money I give to this school do besides pay the instructors? Is
this only my department? ... The loans I have to take out are too much.
I will be paying them off until I die most likely. I do receive
financial aid from the school, but it is barely $2000 a semester. Not
nearly enough to offset my loans and personal expenses, like rent,
food, etc. ... Unless I miraculously stumble upon some dying rich
relative and weasel into the will, this will be my last semester,
thanks to the lack of aid, and, I feel, integrity within my
department.
-Jenny Addison, VisCom
Obviously, education costs a lot these days,
especially if you attend a private or specialized institution.
Personally, I feel that the tuition at SAIC is very costly and
difficult to manage, even on the payment plan, but I understand the
cost of my education is getting me a degree from a highly esteemed art
school and hopefully a decent job. The unfortunate thing about all
schools is that a lot of that tuition money goes toward technological
upgrades, computers, new facilities, and other necessities which keep
the institution cutting-edge. So, if you are an artist who has no use
for computers or high-tech equipment or don't plan on taking advantage
of the access to them while in school, then yes, tuition is outrageous,
plain and simple. There needs to be more information given to the
students about the breakdown of tuition and expenses so that we can get
a full understanding of where our money, and our parents' [money]
goes.
-Kelly Fleming, SAIC Senior
I feel that SAIC is a great school and is worth the
tuition if and only if you are a self-motivated student that will take
advantage of the many resources that the school has as well as make
connections with faculty and use the Co-op and other programs
available. If you slack off and do just enough to get by ... of course
you would be wasting your money. Sure you can go here, do just enough
to graduate, and still be able to say I'm a BFA student from SAIC ...
but all you got out of it was a name of a prestigious art school. This
school has a lot to offer that other art schools do not, but I do feel
that the facilities are lacking, and in [that] respect I'm not getting
my money's worth. And to tell you the truth I'm still not sure where my
money goes. I'm not sure I'll ever know.
-Hannah Simpson,
Student
I think that this is a fairly loaded question, but
it is the opinion of this student that SAIC tuition is overly expensive
for the education you get, especially at the undergraduate level. The
dilemma is that we (students) know how much it is to go here before we
get here, but I think the real problem is that our expectations for
education are so much higher than what is being provided. We have
excellent instructors and resources that are worth the money, but the
organization in its entirety leaves a lot to be desired. Who approved
that the Painting and Drawing department should get lab coats? I didn't
vote on that - I'd much prefer spending that $10 on paint... . At any
rate, I don't know that there's a solution, especially since people are
going to keep coming regardless of cost.
-Anonymous, SAIC
Junior
... To answer [your] one question I have more
questions. When a student pays tuition to SAIC, where exactly does the
tuition go? (I imagine a Rube Goldberg infrastructure with various
pipelines to various places.) I think the community-at-large needs to
know the financial nuts and bolts... of SAIC. Can the financial
structure of SAIC be outlined for public scrutiny in non-general terms?
Would SAIC ever post general, then specific faculty and administration
salary structures on the internet (as public schools throughout the
country do)? How do pay structures within administration and within the
faculty match time teaching, in the office, ... doing research, making
art? What does SAIC spend on finding minority students ...? What does
SAIC spend per year on: services for students with disabilities; on
counseling services...; public relations; legal advice; legal fees and
lawsuits?... How many days per week do administrators actually appear
in the office... ? Does SAIC see itself philosophically as a funding
source for research for faculty and administration if time spent on
research is perhaps one to two days per week out of every five day work
week? Most universities are considered think tanks and research
institutions, and it is assumed all faculty are conducting research in
addition to teaching; However the question remains, if SAIC is an
artistic think tank, then are all administrators considered to be
researchers in tandem with their roles as administrators, and is SAIC
then funding their research while it is paying for their administrative
work in yearly salaries? How much does SAIC spend department by
department on faculty searches and interviews; gifts to full time
faculty... ; annual dinners... ; various memberships for faculty and/or
administration for local clubs and organizations such as The Cliff
Dwellers? ...
-Carmela Rago, Assistant Adjunct Professor,
Performance
*other areas of expenditure are corporate net
allocations, film center and VDB, library, development and misc.
**other sources of revenues are rental income and misc.
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