UA Votes to Increase Tuition By 3.5 Percent.
by May 23, 2013 2:55 pm 85 views
The University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees on Thursday approved a 3.5 percent increase in student tuition and fees, beginning in the fall 2013 semester.
The increase, according to a news release, will raise average undergraduate in-state tuition and fees to $7,818 for two full semesters (30 credit hours), an increase of $246 per student.
The hike is the smallest one-year percentage or dollar increase at the UA since fall 2009, the third-smallest dollar increase since fall 1998 and the second-smallest percentage increase since at least fall 1995.
“We have to thank the [Arkansas] General Assembly for the first significant increase in state funding for higher education in seven years, and Gov. Mike Beebe, who recommended the appropriation increase,” UA chancellor David Gearhart said in a news release. “We are committed to keeping tuition as low as possible, to maintain a balance between affordability and high quality. We can accomplish that most effectively when we receive this kind of support from the state.”
Gearhart said that faculty and staff salaries are the university’s highest priority for the additional tuition revenue.
“We stand to lose our best faculty if we can’t continue our momentum and reach our goal of being above average in faculty compensation,” he said.
The 3.5 percent tuition and fee increase includes a new student fee of $1.25 per semester hour to support the university libraries.
Gearhart said that in the past three years the UA has provided $500,000 to $1 million in library support.
He said in the news release the new fee would be used to provide the kind of permanent investment needed if the UA is to achieve its goal of becoming a Top 50 public research university.