Jennifer Borton plans to wait tables this summer to help pay for her college education.

Borton, a Kansas University freshman in architecture, says she’ll have to pinch pennies if tuition increases the next few years.

A probable tuition increase at Kansas University could cut down on the disposable income available to students.

“I’d watch a little more what I did,” she said. “I’d be going to Mrs. E’s (the residence hall cafeteria) instead of going out someplace else.”

As KU officials mull a major tuition increase, some students are concerned that spending more money on school may mean less for their entertainment budgets. And if that happens, the businesses that provide that entertainment may take a hit.

KU administrators say they need a significant increase in tuition funds to remain competitive with peer schools. KU would need an additional $50 million per year to match the average of its five peer institutions selected by the Board of Regents the universities of Oregon, Iowa, Colorado, North Carolina and Oklahoma.

Administrators have told the Board of Regents they hope to use a combination of state funding and tuition to make up that $50 million.

Making up the gap solely with tuition money would increase bills $2,873 within five years for a student taking 15 hours. Closing the gap with half tuition money and half state funds would increase tuition bills $1,440 per year.

Other bills

KU officials point out that tuition is only one of several ways college students spend their money.

According to university data, the average KU student spends $11,400 to attend a year of school. It breaks down this way: $4,644 for room and board, $3,133 for travel and miscellaneous expenses, $2,873 for tuition and fees, and $750 for books and supplies.

So even if tuition doubles over the next five years, they say, it would increase the total amount spent by about 25 percent.

And other expenses are rising, too. For example, room and board for students in residence halls will increase 6.8 percent this fall. The average double-occupancy room will increase from $4,348 per year to $4,642.

David Burress, a research economist with KU’s Policy Research Institute, said he didn’t know of studies on the effect of tuition on students’ discretionary spending.

He said it makes sense to assume students would spend less on nonessential items if they had to spend more on tuition.

But, he added, the decrease in spending would be small “probably too small to notice” because of three economic principles:

Habit formation.

“People find it hard to change the spending habits they have already formed,” he said.

Relative consumption.

“There is an expected level of consumption that students see on television and at home,” he said. “They will continue to try to emulate it.”

The “soft budget constraint.”

“The amount that students spend has surprisingly little to do with their direct income,” he said. “They are going into debt anyway, and they can go further into debt if they choose to. They also can increase the amount they wheedle out of their parents. And if worse comes to worse, they can increase their income by working more hours.”

Enrollment decrease?

Businesses also might feel an effect if KU enrolls fewer students because of tuition costs.

A 1997 study published in the Journal of Higher Education showed a $100 increase in tuition resulted in one-half to 1 percent enrollment drop, but financial aid could help ease the impact.

Burress has seen studies that indicate a 10 percent tuition increase leads to a 1 percent to 5 percent decrease in enrollment.

“It probably makes a big difference whether or not other Kansas schools are raising their tuition at the same time as KU, and if so, by how much,” he said.

Deb Teeter, KU’s director of institutional research and planning, said the university hadn’t made projections for how tuition might affect enrollment.

She said increases at the University of Illinois and the University of Missouri resulted in a one-year enrollment dip, but numbers rose again the following year.

Uncertain effects

Business managers aren’t sure what if any effect the tuition hike might make.

But Don Keen, manager at Yello Sub, 624 W. 12th St., said generally “whatever’s good for the students is good for local businesses.”

“As they go, we go,” he said. “If enrollment goes up, I believe it’ll have an impact on all of us. They might not go out and eat as much. They might not go out and run around the bars.

“Some kids are lucky enough to get to go to college. There’s some that really have to work and make ends meet. There’s only so much money, and the more they’ve got to spend on books and school, the less they have to spend on other things.”

Unlike Yello Sub’s other location at 1814 W. 23rd St., the clientele of its near-campus location is about 95 percent students, Keen said.

“I don’t know how big a hit it might take,” he said, “but we’d be able to notice a difference in our numbers, in this location in particular.”

Jon Ratzlaff, general manager at the Southwind 12 Theaters, 3433 Iowa, said he didn’t expect the increase to affect business much. He estimated about 40 percent of movie patrons there are KU students.

“I don’t see it as a huge concern,” he said. “I’m not worried. I think the mindset is pretty much if they’re going to see a movie, they’re still going to see it.

“I don’t think it’ll hurt the attendance much. It might hurt the concession sales. I can definitely see that happening.”

Teeter said raising tuition wouldn’t decrease the amount of money being pumped into the Lawrence economy. It just won’t be students spending it.

“It’s just a different entity,” she said. “For the economy, it has a limited impact because that money will be spent in Lawrence. It’ll just be spent (by KU) on supplies in academic units, or faculty will be spending it as part of their compensation.”

Jon Corbin, a freshman business major, said he wasn’t sure if the tuition increase would affect his spending habits. He didn’t expect much of a difference, because he’s relying on his parents to pay for his education.

“I think it depends on how much it goes up,” he said. “To me it’s not a big deal. But I could see for other people it could be a problem.”