NEWS | November 19, 2003

Tuition and Fees
Regents approve tuition increases
The increases will generate $19 million over the next year, UTA officials project.

By Brad Rollins
The Shorthorn managing editor

AUSTIN — The UT System Board of Regents approved next year’s tuition rates for nine universities on Tuesday, but increases for next fall won’t be official until after a 60-day waiting period.

Students here will pay a $10-per-credit-hour increase in the spring and an additional $17 per credit hour in the fall in designated tuition for most courses. The package also includes $5 per credit hour in increased fees effective in the fall.

Upper-level and graduate nursing and upper-level engineering courses would cost an additional $10 per credit hour and graduate-level engineering courses would cost $20 per credit hour more than other courses.

“I’ve already called back to the campus and told them the results: Full bore ahead,” interim President Charles Sorber said minutes after the mid-afternoon vote.

The increases are projected to bring an additional $19 million for the university over the next year, money the university will use to fill 50 new and vacant professorships and to restore reserves depleted to compensate for reduced legislative appropriations.

Sorber told regents he had already authorized recruitment to fill the positions. He said the university has the same number of faculty now as it did in 1991, when enrollment was about 19,000. Nearly 25,000 students are enrolled this semester.

“The fact is, we’ve already begun the process of recruiting because that is not something you can start in May,” Sorber said before the vote. “I took a personal risk to begin that process, and I’ll have to stop it, frankly, if these increases don’t come through.”

The board unanimously approved the rates after Sorber spoke upon the regents’ request. The decision caps a months-long process administrators said would withstand the scrutiny of lawmakers who have said they were surprised at the size of the proposed increases.

The fall rates won’t take effect until Jan. 23, after a 60-day comments period intended to alleviate legislators’ concerns that the decision had been rushed.

“This is about showing people we’re being very careful and very open to scrutiny and discussion,” regents chairman Charles Miller said after the meeting. “This process has been transparent, and we think they’ll be convinced that it’s a good plan when they get all the information.”

Several lawmakers, including Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, questioned last week whether they had been misled about the scope of increases when they passed legislation allowing universities to set their own tuition.

Miller and Chancellor Mark Yudof declined to discuss Dewhurst’s comments. Yudof said he had been “in discussions” with the lieutenant governor over the weekend but said he would not describe the 60-day wait as a concession or compromise.

Sorber agreed that the decision was nearly final, despite the wait.

“We don’t anticipate any significant problems because we’ve spent so much time thinking this through and consulting with everyone involved,” he said.

The day began with presentations by the presidents and student government leaders from each of the system’s nine universities. Many of the students’ speeches were laced with harsh words for the Legislature they blamed for making steep increases necessary.

Student Congress President Josh Warren focused on the process used to reach UTA’s proposal, including the Tuition Review Committee he chaired. The committee had a student majority, unique among similar advisory groups at other system schools.

“The entire UT System did an excellent job,” he said. “Within that context, I felt that UT-Arlington had the best process.”

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