By Maggie Downs, Enquirer staff writer
and The Associated Press

MADEIRA - Brittany Baltes has little time for socializing with her three summer jobs.

Brittany Baltes works at Choo-Choo's Restaurant in Madeira to supplement her college tuition at Ohio University. (Craig Ruttle photo)

But all the hours at the mall, the restaurant and the car dealership add up to one big payoff someday - a college education.

Baltes, who will be a sophomore in international business communications at Ohio University in the fall, is one of the students who will be affected by the school's 9 percent tuition hike.

Ohio University trustees approved the increase on Friday, blaming dwindling state support.

For the school year that begins in the fall, Ohio freshmen, sophomores and juniors on the Athens campus will pay $7,770. Seniors will pay $7,404.

AREA TUITION INCREASES FOR 2004-05

• University of Cincinnati: March 30, UC said it would raise in-state tuition by 9.9 percent beginning in the summer term. This is the second consecutive year UC students have been hit with such an increase, the maximum allowed by the state of Ohio. The action raises annual tuition to $8,379, up from $7,623. • Xavier (private): Will charge $20,100 a year, a 6.6 percent increase over last year's $18,850. • Miami: Miami University approved an 8.5 percent tuition boost Feb. 27, going from $18,103 to $19,642. In-state students receive Ohio Resident Scholarships, generally taking $10,000 or more off that amount. • College of Mount St. Joseph (private): Tuition will increase by 7 percent, from $16,000 to $17,200. • Ohio State University: Announced in May a 13.4 percent increase in tuition for all new students, raising the cost to $7,542 from $6,651. • University of Kentucky: 13.6 percent increase for freshmen and sophomores and 16.9 percent increase for juniors and seniors for the fall. Freshmen and sophomores will pay $5,164.50 a year in tuition; juniors and seniors, $5,314.50. Tuition now costs $4,546.50. • University of Louisville: 13.3 percent increase, from $4,450 to $5,040 annually. • Northern Kentucky University announced in May a tuition hike of 16.7 percent, going from $3,744 per year for Kentucky residents to $4,338. Non-resident tuition jumped from $7,992 to $9,096.

It will cost $17,734 per year for non-resident freshmen, sophomores and juniors, while seniors will pay $15,396.

That kind of increase will add up for Baltes. Right now her grandparents are paying the bulk of her freshman and sophomore year tuition. But junior and senior year, with increasingly daunting prices, will be paid by Baltes herself, through student loans and the money she makes.

"There's this determination to get that degree, because she doesn't want to have the same kind of financial struggles she's watched me have," said Baltes' mother, Kim Taylor. "So even though it costs a lot, it's worth the price for her."

The increase will be 8 percent for College of Osteopathic Medicine students and 6 percent for students on the university's regional campuses except Ohio University Southern Campus in Ironton, where the increase will be 9 percent.

"To lessen the load on students and their parents, the university has further focused its commitment to being a good steward of its resources and has sought cost savings wherever possible, without compromising the university's mission of providing a quality educational experience to each student," university President Robert Glidden said in a news release.

Most other public universities in the state have approved similar tuition hikes.

After doubling over the past five years, tuition at public, four-year colleges is going up between 8 percent and 16 percent this fall.

Though it's even more of a burden on the family, the tuition hike is to be expected, Taylor said.

"It's a concern, but it's the way all the schools seem to be going," she said. "I guess you don't really think twice about it, because you hear that everyone else is doing it, too."

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E-mail mdowns@enquirer.com