The Tuition Review Advisory Committee met Wednesday to discuss whether it should increase the undergraduate tuition for next year. 

Every year, the committee meets to discuss the Campus Initiated Tuition Increase. It looks at the undergraduate tuition from the past year and decides whether to recommend an increase in tuition.

The tuition money is generated through financial aid, faculty promotion and quality and accessibility.   

This year the state legislature passed a law mandating that tuition will increase by $200 for every undergraduate student on campus.

Student Body President Jim Ceresnak said the General Assembly mandated the increase to offset the cost of attending the University, and half of which is used for improving services and financial aid.

“CITI put together a proposal to argue that it’s better for the University to have a tuition increase to benefit the campus and students than it is to have a $200 tax on students that does nothing to improve the University,” Ceresnak said.

Student Senate President Kelli Rogers said the General Assembly mandated  the $200 increase with none of the money going to the University because they wanted to balance the state’s budget.

“This committee is working on presenting an alternative to that $200 increase where a portion of that can come back to the University,” Rogers said.

Rogers said the University budget cuts were seen in the classroom as well advising sessions.

“The cut was only 3 percent, a small fraction of an overall teaching effort. But it will affect students’ graduation and obviously a tuition increase can’t make up for that,” Rogers said.

The University spent more than $5 million on seats and sections in the past year and cut 300 class sessions, which means 9,750 fewer seats.

“Whether there is a tuition increase at the University or not, only a portion of that goes to improving the academic experience of students.” Ceresnak said the committee hopes the economy improves.

Ceresnak also said, “My top priority is to do as much as we can to restore classes and services lost to budget cuts.”