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NEWS
| October 24, 2003
Tuition and Fees
Committee settles on fee, tuition
hike mix
The review board suggests creating
a fee next fall to help students prepare for cost.
By Chris
Baggott and Lisa Evans
The Shorthorn staff
The Tuition Review Committee cut an administration-backed tuition
increase proposal nearly in half, but students could end up paying
more in fees if the committee’s recommendation is approved.
The committee met Thursday to finalize its increase recommendation
for interim President Charles Sorber. Members said they cut the
spring increases to give students time to prepare for the fall hike,
which also decreased by $4 per credit hour.
Their plan calls for an $8-per-credit-hour increase in the spring
and an additional $8-per-credit-hour increase in the fall. Upper-
and graduate-level nursing and upper-level engineering courses would
see and additional $10 per credit hour increase in the spring. Graduate
engineering courses would cost and additional $15 per credit hour.
The committee also recommended creating a new fee — the student
operations fee — to take effect in the fall. This fee, at
$12 per credit hour, would become the sole funding for many programs
on campus, including advising and admissions, Committee Chairman
Josh Warren said.
The computer and information technology fee would also be raised
an additional $3 per credit hour for the fall. That fee will not
need special approval, but the UT System Board of Regents would
have to approve the student operation fee.
The increases will generate about $16.5 million in its first year,
Warren said. The administrative proposal would have generated $21
million in the same period.
“My goal was to come together and listen to meet the students’
concerns,” Warren said. “I believe this recommendation
did this.”
The original proposal presented by administrators called for a $15-per-credit-hour
increase in the spring and an additional $20-per-credit-hour increase
in the fall. The hike for nursing students is the same in the committee’s
recommendation, but engineering students would pay an additional
$10 per credit hour for upper-level courses and $20 per credit hour
for graduate courses.
Dr. Sorber will consider the committee’s nonbinding recommendation
before sending his proposal to the regents, who will set rates at
their Nov. 18 meeting.
While calling the committee’s proposal a good compromise,
Rusty Ward said it would force the university to change its spring
plans. The interim vice president for business affairs and controller
said the university needs about $4 million to pay off its debt.
“We wanted to try to recoup some of our reserve that we spent
this semester,” he said. “We wouldn’t be able
to do that under the committee’s proposal.”
But there would be enough to hire the 50 new faculty members the
administration wants, he added, even though funds won’t be
generated until fall.
The committee wanted to shift the burden of the spring semester
because most students have already planned for spring, Warren said.
Bryan Shaner, the student representative for business administration,
said the university should offer other ways to plan.
“To increase affordability, the university should offer more
loans,” he said.
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Tuition Deregulation Data Bank
For more information about tuition deregulation,
visit the Data
Bank.
WHAT’S NEXT
• Interim President Charles Sorber can accept,
amend or overrule the proposed tuition and fee increases
the Tuition Review Committee finalized Thursday. He
has until Nov. 1 to forward his decision to UT System
Chancellor Mark Yudof.
• Yudof will recommend tuition rates for all
UT System components to the Board of Regents, which
is expected to finalize the process during a Nov.
18 meeting.
Committee member
pushes for legislation.
Reccommendation
of the Tuition Review Committee.
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