REGENTS FOR UH SYSTEM ADOPT ‘SLIDING
SCALE’ TO DETERMINE FY08 TUITION RATES
Increases for Four Area Universities Linked to Upcoming Legislative
Appropriations
HOUSTON, April 4, 2007 – The University of Houston System
Board of Regents adopted a “sliding scale” approach
to determining tuition and fee rates for fiscal year 2008 in a special
meeting Tuesday.
The possible increases will be pegged to the specific amount of
funding received from the Texas Legislature, which will be determined
later this year. Based on state funding remaining at the level in
the introduced appropriations bill, maximum increases at the four
UH System universities would be:
1) University of Houston – Not more than 12.4 percent
2) UH-Clear Lake – Not more than 6.2 percent
3) UH-Downtown – Not more than 10 percent
4) UH-Victoria – Not more than 7.9 percent
These increases will be less if the amount of state funding exceeds
the introduced bill.
“We don’t know what sort of state funding will be available
to the university from the Legislature,” said UHS Regent Jim
Wise. "We do know, however, that there is a lot of support
for higher education from the governor and others in Austin, and
we will continue to do our due diligence in minimizing the increase
in tuition.”
Historically, regents at Texas state universities have set tuition
rates before the Legislature completes the appropriation process
and have been unable to consider the impact of final funding formula
increases to their respective institutions. In response to that,
this new “sliding scale” approach directly links the
school’s increase in tuition and fees to whatever amount of
additional formula-based funding the Legislature appropriates. Basically,
the less additional state funding the school receives, the more
it will have to increase tuition and fees to sustain current operations
and implement specific quality enhancements.
Tuition and fee increases at UH for FY2008, for example, have been
calculated based on formula funding increases for all state universities
ranging from $0 to $350 million, the range of figures being discussed
by the Legislature.
Should $350 million in additional appropriations be approved for
the biennium, UH would receive approximately $13 million in additional
funding each year, and tuition and fees would then increase only
2.1 percent (based on faculty and staff salaries increasing 3 percent).
That would result in a $62 increase for a typical resident undergraduate
student taking 12 credit hours per semester.
A 10 percent raise in tuition and fees at UH (based on additional
state funding of $2 million) would result in a $291 increase for
the student. A 5 percent raise would result in a $147 increase.
The maximum 12.4 percent raise in tuition and fees at UH would result
in a $365 increase, bringing the FY2008 total tuition and fees to
approximately $3,307 per semester.
The maximum raise in tuition and fees at UH-Clear Lake would produce
a $128 increase, bringing the total to $2,189 per semester.
The maximum raise at UH-Downtown would produce a $183 increase,
raising the semester total to $2,020.
The maximum increase at UH-Victoria would produce a $150 increase,
bringing the total to $2,052 per semester.
Even with tuition increases, UH still falls well below average
tuition charged by many other urban-area universities, said John
Rudley, UH vice president of administration and finance. He cited
UH’s cost of $5,648 for two semesters of 12 credit hours for
this academic year, compared to $12,138 at the University of Pittsburgh
and $9,742 at the University of Illinois at Chicago for equivalent
hours.
“Education is still affordable at UH,” Wise said. “The
total cost of a student's education on average can be covered up
to 60 percent by grants at the federal, state and university levels.
This is important information to keep in mind.”
The Board of Regents and the administration are working diligently
to strike a balance between implementing a reasonable tution and
fee increase and to make strides toward the enhancement of the university’s
goal of achieving “Tier 1” status, said UHS Board of
Regents Chairman Leroy Hermes.
“Presenting our tuition increase range to members of the Legislature
will let them know how we are addressing the challenge of setting
tuition prior to having their final state funding determination,”
he said.
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM
The University of Houston System is the state’s only metropolitan
higher education system, encompassing four universities and two
multi-institution teaching centers. The universities are the University
of Houston, a nationally recognized doctoral degree-granting, comprehensive
research university; the University of Houston-Downtown, a four-year
undergraduate university beginning limited expansion into graduate
programs; and the University of Houston-Clear Lake and the University
of Houston-Victoria, both upper division and master’s-level
institutions. The centers are the UH System at Sugar Land in Fort
Bend and the UH System at Cinco Ranch. In addition, the UH System
includes KUHF-FM, Houston’s National Public Radio and classical
radio station, and KUHT-TV, the nation’s first educational
television station.
For more information about UH visit the universitys Newsroom at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.
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