With Eastern going through tight financial times, the administration has tried to generate as much savings in areas as possible to minimize increases to tuition.

President Bill Perry said despite Gov. Pat Quinn’s favorable appropriation recommendation to all public universities, tuition will increase for incoming students next year.

He said tuition increases are likely because Quinn’s appropriation is comprised of federal stimulus money, which means the increase could evaporate by fiscal year 2011, depending on the state of Illinois’ economy.

Quinn also sent a written warning to all Illinois public universities, stating 2 percent of each university appropriation could be put on reserve in the event of a budget shortfall for the entire state.

In light of this news, Perry said the university would try to conserve costs and generate savings to lower tuition increases.

Perry presented different cost-saving measures Eastern has conducted in the past to the Illinois House of Representatives and Senate higher education appropriation committees earlier this year.

Perry said he included in his presentation statistics like Textbook Rental Services saving students $800 a year, and the university cutting electric consumption by 35 percent and water consumption by 45 percent annually since 1996.

“I just said, ‘Every dollar we save is a dollar we don’t have to charge in tuition,'” he said.

Perry said the university has cut coal consumption by 7,000 tons a year since 1996, and Eastern has saved money throughout the years by renegotiating contracts.

Eastern also takes part in the Illinois Public Higher Education Consortia, which is a group of public universities that buys office supplies and food services in bulk at discounted rates.

Perry said the university saved $9,000 in fiscal year 2008 because of the group. The university is also in the process of decommissioning its mainframe computer that will save Eastern $4,000 a year in maintenance contracts, he said.

“There will be a tuition increase,” Perry said. “The new students will pay more than the new students last year. We do not yet know the level.”

Stephen Di Benedetto can be reached at 581-7942 or at sdibenedetto@eiu.edu.