By Alyssa Poteat
Last semester, William Peace University raised its tuition. During the 2023-2024 school year, the total cost of attendance with a housing plan was $50,678. This year, it has increased to $56,094. With the $5,416 growth in tuition, many students are starting to raise concerns about where exactly their money is going.
Cora Rebert, financial administrative officer for the Student Government and Programming Association, is currently leading an initiative that would allow students to see the university’s budget. Rebert hosted a Town Hall on Sept. 12 that allowed students to see SGPA’s budget and where their money was going.
“The majority of SGPA’s budget goes towards Tradition’s events and RSO allocations,” Rebert said. “The Traditions chair is responsible for organizing the events that are deemed traditions for the WPU community. RSO allocations go towards Registered Student Organizations (RSO) for them to spend the money on initiatives and events.”
Fifteen attendees showing up to learn more about the SGPA budget.
TJ-Hill Johnson was one of the attendees of the event, and loved how informative the Town Hall was.
“I feel that the town hall was very informational. I think it went very well, it was very insightful regarding the spending happening within SGPA,” Johnson said.
According to the American Association of University Professors, at public institutions, essentially all financial information is made public, while private institutions have more leeway when it comes to the budget. The Peace Times reached out to Belinda Burke, vice president for administration and chief financial officer, but she was unavailable for an interview on the topic.
“Financial transparency is essential to me. When we as students invest as much as we do in our education at WPU, I feel it is imperative that we know what that investment is being utilized for,” Johnson said.
Other students at the event were hopeful for the future of financial transparency with WPU, even if it started small with the SGPA budget.
“I am extremely excited that SGPA was able to fully show the SGPA budget for one of the first if not the very first time. I feel this event allows students to have a better understanding of where their money is being spent,” Rebert said after the event.
Rebert shares with the community that she is willing to take the initiative on helping answer questions students might have about the university budget.
“I will be meeting with the president, showing the data collected from the Town Hall, pleading the case for the WPU Budget to be transparent,” Rebert said.
Rebert encourages students to use their voices also.
“I have created a Google form for the student body to fill out that will give SGPA and administration some insight into how the students wish their money to be spent,” Rebert said. “I believe it is important for the budget to be transparent because students are paying their tuition dollars towards WPU. In my opinion, it is fair for students to have some transparency about where their money is being spent.”
To share your voice and opinion on Financial Transparency, you can fill out Rebert’s Google form here: https://forms.gle/5vaAbfUM8XEbHbFk6.