The Tuition Advisory Committee voted unanimously to recommend a proposal for a 3.6 percent tuition increase for in-state undergraduates.
This is lower than the 6.5 percent maximum increase that the committee could have approved, and Student Senate President Greg Doucette said the committee’s “data-centric” approach helped him see the purpose of the increase.
“I have never come even remotely close to supporting a tuition increase [before now],” he said.
The recommended proposal would increase in-state undergraduate and all graduate tuitions by $140, and out-of-state undergraduate tuition by $280.
Student Body President Jay Dawkins, a junior in civil engineering, made a presentation at last week’s meeting for a similar proposal supporting a 3.6 percent increase, and he said the decision was a success.
“No increase is always something that we’re shooting for, but we feel like the fact that we were able to get a lower increase than what was originally asked for, and to find a way to protect student and University priorities while doing that is a big win for the University and for students and for future students that come after us,” he said.
While the committee was content with the proposal, Provost Larry Nielsen said he was not sure how those further up the chain of command will consider it.
At the end of the meeting, he described the path the proposal recommendation would have to take before approval, moving first to a conference committee, “which is a committee that looks at the combined recommendations for tuition and fee increases,” he said.
Some of the members of the Tuition Advisory Committee are also on this conference committee, he said, and that group will make recommendations to the chancellor, who then refers to the Board of Trustees, which refers to the Board of Governors.
Nielsen said the committee was ahead of schedule, as the Board of Trustees will not meet again until November.
The tuition committee did not vote on the proposal at its meeting Sept. 25, as graduate student representative Heather Cutchin said she wanted to speak to other graduate students before approving a proposal.
During the meeting, Cutchin, a graduate student in poultry science, said over 30 graduate students had sent her e-mails commenting on the proposed tuition increases, and they were “on the fence” about the proposal.
“Most of them are concerned that they’re going to have to get jobs on campus to get the money they need,” she said.
Many graduate students do not use the on-campus resources, like libraries, that are available, and Cutchin said many are also paying their way through school, so they would prefer to avoid any increases if possible.
In the entire process, Nielsen said he was happy with how the committee conducted itself.
“I think all members of the committee have been extremely responsible and fair in the way they’ve looked at this,” he said.