Tuition will be going up by about 10 percent, but the Utah State Board of Regents is just as concerned about it as students are.
State university presidents announced their proposed tuition increases to the Regents Friday at the Davis Applied Technology Center in Kaysville.
Individual university increases, which ranged from 3 to 10 percent, will be in addition to the proposed 4.5 percent statewide increase if all is approved by the Legislature.
Interim president Lorris Betz proposed a 5 to 7 percent increase for the U.
Almost every president said the increases were proposed to compensate for students at their schools not currently funded by the Legislature. The increases are so high, many said, because they are not optimistic about the amount of funding this year’s Legislature will give to higher education.
“The numbers I gave depend on little help from the state. If the state comes through, then the numbers will go down,” Betz said after the meeting.
After each president had given his numbers, a motion was raised to vote on the proposals. This sparked several protests across the table as presidents hesitated to have it reported that they had voted to make education more expensive to students.
Regent David Jordan commended Utah State University for always being open and honest with its student body about raises in tuition to ensure student support. He said it was assumed by the Regents that every institution had gone through a similar process so that students are aware of the situation.
It was emphasized by many, including Richard Kendell, state commissioner of higher education, that everything being discussed was dependent on the Legislature and that they should just be talking about expectations.
“In the past, when we’ve played our cards too close to our chest, we’ve run into trouble. We need to discuss ranges,” agreed Regent George Mantes.
It was then agreed that the ranges would merely be tentatively approved instead of voted on.
As the meeting appeared to move on quickly in order to end on time, Nolan Karras, chairman of the Regents, slowed things down by emphasizing the costs these raises would have on students.
“Although students say they’re supportive, this has got to be becoming a real concern. I don’t want to leave this meeting thinking we’re on autopilot. This is the fourth year of a 10 percent increase,” he said. “We’re approaching a 50 percent increase in tuition in a four year period.”
If the ranges are approved, he continued, the Regents and presidents need to tell the Legislature that they’re at the end of their rope. School is getting too expensive for Utah students and their level of education will determine the future prosperity of the state, he said.
“We’re at a crossroads in Utah,” Karras said.
In Kendell’s concluding remarks, he said that the success of the Regents was measured by the success of students and that not enough students were making a successful transition from high school to higher education.
In Karras’ final remarks, he said that the presidents and the Regents need to do a better job convincing the public of higher education’s need for state money. He also said they should not be counting on a future economic boom to save them from debt.
Despite his numerous comments on the dangers of raising education costs to students, Karras was mostly silent throughout the meeting.
Regent George Mantes conducted the meeting in anticipation of Karras leaving the board to run as a Republican candidate for governor.
After the meeting, Betz said he was very sensitive to the impact the increases would have on students’ pocketbooks as well as their impact psychologically, as the students wonder when it’s going to end. He said that the U is over the hump of yearly increases, but added that he was still very concerned about the U’s deficit.
