The University of Illinois' Board of Trustees will vote on the approval of tuition fees for three new Global Campus certification programs during their meeting Thursday, bringing in possible new sources of tuition revenue for the initiative itself.

The programs include a graduate certificate in a biblical approach to mental health sponsored by the College of Medicine at the Chicago campus, and graduate certificates in business process management and information project technology management sponsored by the College of Business and Management at the Springfield campus. Each program will begin enrolling students on Jan. 7, 2009 and consist of 3 courses totaling 12 hours.

Determining the cost of tuition for the programs includes comparing the cost and quality of earning a similar certification at other online universities, said Chet Gardner, special assistant to University of Illinois President B. Joseph White on Global Campus.

"We price our programs to be competitive so that typically the prices fall somewhere in the middle," Gardner said. "Of course that's one of the goals of the Global Campus, to provide quality education at affordable prices."

Tuition for the biblical approach to mental health certificate has been proposed as $405 per credit hour, or $4,860 for the total program for in-state residents. If approved, the cost would equate to $450 per credit hour, or $5,400 for the total program for nonresidents.

Tuition for the other two certificates are $431 per credit hour, or $5,172 for the total program for in-state residents. Non-residents would be charged $479 per credit hour, or $5,748 for the total program.

Gardner said the approximately 10 percent difference in tuition is standard between residents and non-residents, but providing lower tuition to Illinois residents was a priority "in recognition for the small amount of state support," Global Campus receives.

However, alumni from any of the University of Illinois campuses will only be charged in-state tuition regardless of residency so long as they are contributing members of the University of Illinois Alumni Association.

"Our alums have contributed to the success of the University in (the) tuition they've paid in getting their degrees and by donations to the University of Illinois Alumni Assocation," Gardner said, adding the discounted rate is a form of appreciation.

Tuition revenue is one of the four means the Global Campus has to generate finances. The initiative also receives $1 million in state support every year as well as grants from the Lumina Foundation and the Illinois Board of Higher Education, Gardner said.

Yet, the Global Campus still has a credit line from the University system that must be paid back with interest. The campus had $3.9 million remaining in credit from fiscal year 2008, a debt that won't begin to be paid back until fiscal year 2011, but fell $500,000 short of projected tuition revenue.

Trustees voted to increase funding for the Global Campus Initiative by $3.4 million in May, giving the institution a total operating budget of $5.95 million during the 2009 fiscal year.

Gardner said that the increase was not factored into the decision of tuition prices for the new programs, which is similar to the cost of others set before the vote. "First we have to recover all costs and then look at money to invest back into colleges partnering with us," Gardner said. "We have to set a tuition that allows us to cover our costs."