State universities granted
40,752 waivers worth $117 million in fiscal year 1996
Graduate waivers were $94
million while graduate tuition revenue was $71 million
Few selection criteria for
awarding waivers existedEvaluation
records were incomplete
The audit reported :
- Non-compliance
- Incomplete records
- No information on rejected
applicants
- Control weaknesses
- Waivers not audited
Universities and agencies
generally agreed with the audit's recommendations
|
REPORT
CONCLUSIONS The nine State
universities waived over one-fifth (23 percent) of all
tuition charges in fiscal year 1996 (see Digest Exhibit
1). Total tuition charges were approximately $507
million, of which $117 million was waived resulting in
$390 million in tuition revenue. The total number of
waivers granted in fiscal year 1996 was 40,752. In
addition, universities waived almost $5 million in fees.
Digest Exhibit 1
TUITION WAIVED BY UNIVERSITY
Fiscal Year 1996 |
| |
GRADUATE |
UNDERGRADUATE |
TOTAL |
UNIVERSITY
|
Tuition
Waived
|
% Waived
|
Tuition
Waived
|
% Waived
|
Tuition Revenue
|
Tuition
Waived
|
% Waived
|
| Chicago
State * |
$233,220
|
8%
|
$588,292
|
5%
|
$13,753,900
|
$821,512
|
6%
|
| Eastern |
$1,057,067
|
43%
|
$1,358,630
|
7%
|
$19,844,100
|
$2,415,697
|
11%
|
| Governors
State |
$336,776
|
10%
|
$111,965
|
2%
|
$7,566,400
|
$448,741
|
6%
|
| Illinois
State |
$2,686,646
|
63%
|
$2,539,070
|
6%
|
$39,632,100
|
$5,225,716
|
12%
|
| Northeastern
* |
$921,800
|
27%
|
$541,400
|
4%
|
$14,332,000
|
$1,463,200
|
9%
|
| Northern |
$4,573,895
|
49%
|
$3,318,372
|
9%
|
$40,344,800
|
$7,892,267
|
16%
|
| SIU–Carbondale |
$7,712,385
|
60%
|
$2,656,162
|
7%
|
$42,040,800
|
$10,368,547
|
20%
|
| SIU–Edwardsville |
$2,396,784
|
41%
|
$793,840
|
5%
|
$19,056,200
|
$3,190,624
|
14%
|
| U of
I – Chicago |
$19,771,212
|
46%
|
$2,005,333
|
5%
|
$64,411,200
|
$21,776,545
|
25%
|
| U of
I – Springfield |
$349,225
|
14%
|
$204,434
|
5%
|
$5,880,300
|
$553,659
|
9%
|
| U of
I – Urbana |
$52,285,962
|
74%
|
$7,740,500
|
8%
|
$103,891,000
|
$60,026,462
|
37%
|
| Western |
$1,611,350
|
40%
|
$1,131,657
|
6%
|
$19,689,100
|
$2,743,007
|
12%
|
TOTAL
|
$93,936,322 |
57%
|
$22,989,655 |
7%
|
$390,441,900 |
$116,925,977 |
23%
|
* Note 1: Total
tuition waived includes data submitted by
universities to IBHE which differed from figures
submitted to OAG. Total tuition waived based on
data submitted by universities to OAG was
$116,836,032.
Note 2: For accounting purposes, percent waived
is calculated by dividing tuition waived by the
sum of tuition revenue plus tuition waived.
SOURCE: Tuition revenue data is from IBHE,
tuition waived is university data submitted to
OAG. |
State universities’ internal and
external accounting for the dollar amount and number of
tuition and fee waivers was inconsistent and contained
errors. Figures reported by universities to the Illinois
Board of Higher Education (IBHE) in its waiver report
form differed from those reported for the audit. In
addition, universities had difficulty providing us with
documentation to support their waiver data. Among
universities, criteria for categorizing waiver programs
differed, cut-off dates for reporting waivers by fiscal
year varied, and methods for determining the number of
waivers were not uniform.
We recommended that IBHE establish
consistent and uniform methods for universities to report
tuition and fee waivers. We also recommended that
universities keep accurate information on each waiver
program. (See report pages 9-20.)
Of the $117 million in tuition waived,
approximately $106 million (91 percent) was granted at
the discretion of the individual universities
("institutional waivers") and $11 million (9
percent) was for programs established by law
("statutory waivers"), as shown in Digest
Exhibit 2.
| Universities
granted $94 million (80 percent of the total $117
million waived) in graduate tuition waivers while
collecting $71 million in graduate tuition
revenue in fiscal year 1996. The amount of
graduate waivers is not limited by State law or
policy. |
Digest
Exhibit 2
TUITION WAIVED BY YEAR IN
SCHOOL
Fiscal Year 1996 |
| |
Statutory |
Institutional |
Total |
Undergraduate
|
$9,303,170
|
$13,686,485
|
$22,989,655 |
Graduate
|
$1,352,496
|
$92,583,826
|
$93,936,322 |
| TOTAL |
$10,655,666 |
$106,270,311 |
$116,925,977 |
See Note 1
in Digest Exhibit 1.
SOURCE: Universities’ data
summarized by OAG. |
|
Digest Exhibit 3 shows the programs
that waived the most tuition. (Report pages 9-11.)
Digest Exhibit 3
PROGRAMS THAT WAIVED MOST TUITION
Graduate and Undergraduate Combined
Fiscal Year 1996 |
| Program |
Amount
Waived |
Percent Of
Amount Waived |
Number
Waived |
Percent Of
Number Waived |
Graduate
Assistantships
Graduate College Waivers
Athletic
Academic
General Assembly
Faculty/Administrators
Cooperating Teachers
Support Staff (Civil Service)
Veterans’ Children
Special Education
Children of Employees
ROTC
Out-of-State
Other – Talent
Remaining Programs |
$75,550,353
$7,491,239
$5,445,241
$4,728,196
$4,505,613
$2,413,043
$1,771,828
$1,756,808
$1,651,726
$1,455,695
$1,412,434
$1,412,162
$1,374,478
$1,270,891
$6,210,257
|
64.7%
6.4%
4.7%
4.0%
3.9%
2.1%
1.5%
1.5%
1.4%
1.2%
1.2%
1.2%
1.2%
1.1%
5.3%
|
15,000
1,444
1,852
3,567
1,702
1,913
3,671
2,399
482
685
1,320
787
853
837
4,240
|
36.8%
3.5%
4.5%
8.8%
4.2%
4.7%
9.0%
5.9%
1.2%
1.7%
3.2%
1.9%
2.1%
2.1%
10.4%
|
Adjustments*
|
($1,613,932)
|
(1.4%)
|
0
|
0
|
| TOTAL |
$116,836,032 |
100%
|
40,752 |
100%
|
| * Adjustments were
made to the amount waived to eliminate double
counting and timing differences in reporting
waiver amounts. |
| SOURCE: State
universities’ data summarized by OAG. |
Institutional waivers included graduate
assistants, athletic, academic, faculty and civil service
waivers. Undergraduate institutional waivers were
generally limited to a percentage of undergraduate
tuition, as established by IBHE policy.
State universities’ management of
institutional waivers was decentralized and often
delegated to individual academic departments without
specific guidelines or criteria. One-fourth of the
institutional waivers in our random sample lacked
complete records of the award process (see Digest Exhibit
4). Missing documents included applications, selection
criteria and decision records.
| We
recommended that universities establish adequate
controls over institutional tuition waivers,
including creating written eligibility and
selection criteria, and maintaining complete
selection records. (Report pages 39-50.)
Statutory waivers, which
accounted for $11 million or 9 percent of tuition
waivers in fiscal year 1996, included Reserve
Officer’s Training Corps (ROTC), Children of
Employees, General Assembly, Child of a Veteran,
Department of Children and Family Services
(DCFS), Senior Citizens, and Teachers/Special
Education programs.
|
Digest
Exhibit 4
MISSING RECORDS
INSTITUTIONAL WAIVERS SAMPLED
Graduate and Undergraduate
Combined |
University
|
Waivers
Missing At Least One Record
|
Chicago State
Eastern
Governors State
Illinois State
Northeastern
Northern
SIU–Carbondale
SIU–Edwardsville
U of I – Chicago
U of I – Springfield
U of I – Urbana*
Western
|
36
12
13
30
40
13
24
11
67
1
4
17
|
41%
13%
16%
32%
43%
14%
26%
12%
71%
1%
4%
18%
|
| TOTAL/Average
% |
268 |
25% |
| SOURCE:
OAG random sample of university tuition
waiver records. |
|
Some statutory waivers were not granted
in accordance with applicable State law. For instance,
universities exceeded the maximum number of ROTC waivers
authorized by statute, some tuition waivers were granted
to children of employees who had not been employed by the
university for the minimum number of years specified by
law, and some recipients of General Assembly waivers had
addresses outside the awarding legislator’s
district.
We recommended that universities comply
with applicable statutes, as well as maintain complete
selection records on each individual awarded a statutory
tuition waiver. (Report pages 21-38.)
Overall, there were few Statewide
requirements and controls over the types and amounts of
tuition waivers that State universities could grant and
over the administration of these programs. Consequently,
many inconsistencies and variations in waiver programs
were found.
We recommended that each university
establish a comprehensive tuition and fee waiver policy
and that the IBHE assist in coordinating the development
of these policies to ensure consistency among State
universities. We also offered a Matter for Consideration
by the General Assembly that it may wish to establish a
Statewide tuition and fee waiver policy to address such
issues as waiver limits, record-keeping, management
controls, and reporting requirements. (Report pages
61-79.)
From 1990 to 1996, the amount of
tuition waived by State universities increased 27 percent
for undergraduates and 74 percent for graduate students.
Tuition charges increased at a higher rate (42 percent
for undergraduates and 35 percent for graduate students)
than the Higher Education Price Index (which increased 23
percent).
Although State universities waived more
than one-fifth of total tuition revenue during fiscal
year 1996, no formal study of the impact of tuition
waivers on tuition costs has been made. We surveyed IBHE
and the State’s universities to determine the impact
of tuition waivers on tuition rates for paying students.
Several universities indicated that tuition waivers have
little or no effect on tuition rates, although the IBHE
and one university stated that tuition rates could be
lowered if tuition waivers were eliminated and other
factors, such as attendance, remained unchanged.
The audit offered a Matter for
Consideration by the General Assembly that it may wish to
consider requiring public universities to report annually
on the need and purpose of each waiver program,
eligibility and selection criteria, cost and any benefits
resulting from the program. (Report pages 51-59.)
The audit report includes ten
recommendations to State universities, the IBHE, the
State Board of Education, and the Department of Children
and Family Services to improve the awarding, management
and reporting of tuition waivers. The universities and
agencies generally concurred with the recommendations.
Their responses are excerpted in the report and
reproduced in their entirety in Appendix K.
This report is accompanied by a
Supplement which contains more detailed information
pertaining to each individual State university.
_______________________________
WILLIAM G. HOLLAND
Auditor General
April 1998
|
