UAFS tuition and fees set for 7.1% increase

Officials with the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith are proposing a 7.1% tuition and fee increase to help fill the gap between an increase in students and decreases in state funding.

The University of Arkansas Board of Trustees is expected to vote Friday (May 20) on tuition and fee increases requested by UAFS, the University of Arkansas, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, University of Arkansas at Monticello and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

Proposed increases in UAFS tuition and fees would set the fall 2011 per credit hour cost at $175.57, up 7.1% from $163.93 in fall 2010. Each UAFS student will for the first time be assessed a $20 per semester “facilities fee.”

Tuition at UAFS increased almost 7% in 2010, with the average student paying about $159 more than in 2009. Although the UAFS increase in 2010 was the highest in the UA system, the UAFS per semester student costs were the lowest among the five four-year universities.

“When UA Fort Smith tops 8,000 students in the fall, that will be a headcount increase of over 25 percent just in the last five years. In addition, UA Fort Smith’s state support has gone from 50 percent of our total budget in 2006 to 37 percent of our total budget as of July 1, 2011,” UAFS Chancellor Dr. Paul Beran wrote in a statement to The City Wire. “Those two facts speak volumes about the reality that we are trying to balance state funding declines and major growth. We believe that a relatively minor increase dollar-wise will allow UA Fort Smith to continue to give the students opportunities that far outweigh the tuition and fee increase.”

The 2011 spring enrollment at the UAFS was 7,058, a 3.3% increase over last spring’s record enrollment. The spring full-time equivalency (FTE) number reached 5,464, a 6.1% increase from last spring’s record FTE enrollment. Also, the spring 2010 enrollment was a 7% increase over 2009.

If UAFS has at least a 5,500 FTE in the fall, the increase in revenue, including the facility fee, would top $1 million.

The FY 2012 total for UAFS is $20.33 million, which reflects a continued trend of decline in state support. In FY 2008, UAFS received $23.045 million and had 5,263 full-time equivalent students. In FY 2012, UAFS is projected to have at least 6,000 full-time equivalent students, meaning the state support per student has fallen from $4,379 in 2008 to what will be about $3,800 in 2012.

Tuition increases requested by the other four UA campuses are as follows.
• University of Arkansas (Fayetteville)
Fall 2011: $239.11
Fall 2010: $225.58
up 5.99%

• University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Fall 2011: $234.68
Fall 2010: $221.41
up 5.99%

• University of Arkansas at Monticello
Fall 2011: $176.33
Fall 2010: $166.33
up 6%

• University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Fall 2011: $177.65
Fall 2010: $167.75
up 5.9%

The per-credit-hour facilities fee at UA will increase from $6 to $8; from $3 to $5 at UALR; from $10 to $11 at UAM; and from $13.25 to $14 at UAPB.