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NEWS
| November 4, 2003
Tuition and Fees
Details of increase to be released
The UT System will reveal specific
plans from each campus’ tuition increase proposals today.
By Kate
Bolen
The Shorthorn staff
The UT System will release details on each component’s suggestions
to increase tuition at each school today on its Web site.
Interim university President Charles Sorber submitted his recommendation,
which was based heavily on the Tuition Review Committee’s
proposal, Monday to UT System Chancellor Mark Yudof. The due date
for the proposal was originally Nov. 1.
Dr. Sorber declined to discuss details of his recommendation because
the system is gathering information from all UT institutions. System
officials, he said, want to release all information simultaneously.
Each component’s increase suggestion will be available on
the UT System Web site at www.utsystem.edu.
The UT System Board of Regents will meet Nov. 18 to set tuition
rates for the spring and fall. Mark Yudof will discuss Sorber’s
recommendation at that meeting.
A UT System spokesman said that when system officials realized the
original due date fell Saturday, component institutions submitted
their proposals the next business day, causing the delay.
Sorber said he realizes the importance of getting the information
out quickly so students can plan for next semester.
“The community, including students and everyone else involved,
is eager to see what’s in it,” he said. “They
have every right to be curious.”
The Tuition Review Committee, which was charged with analyzing tuition
increase proposals and making a recommendation to Sorber, cut the
administration’s original proposal in half, claiming students
need more time to prepare for a large hike. The committee’s
proposal, submitted Oct. 23, called for an $8-per-credit-hour increase
in the spring and an additional $16 per credit hour next fall in
tuition and fees, which could generate about $16.5 million.
Sorber said last week that he tried to establish a balance between
the original proposal and the Tuition Review Committee’s proposal
but considered the committee’s recommendation.
Committee member Judy Varnell, however, doesn’t agree that
the information needs to be rushed to the public. The Institutional
Research and Planning executive assistant said that if the UT System
needs extra time to come up with an increase that is fair to everyone,
officials should take their time.
“At this point, I don’t see how one extra day can make
a difference,” she said.
Economics Associate Professor William Crowder, also a Tuition Review
Committee member, said he understands why the interim president
wants to release the information as quickly as possible.
Pushing back release dates will affect students, Crowder said. They
won’t be able to plan for the upcoming semester if tuition
isn’t set soon.
However, Dr. Crowder said he realizes the UT System has a lot to
consider.
“They are not just looking at UTA’s proposal but the
other schools’ proposals that have been submitted as well,”
he said.
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Tuition Deregulation Data Bank
For more information about tuition deregulation,
visit the Data
Bank.
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