The Tennessee Board of Regents approved a 15 percent increase in tuition Tuesday for schools under its jurisdiction, including The University of Memphis.
The University will raise tuition 15 percent for undergraduates, graduate students and law students.
TBR’s approval comes on the heels of last week’s recommendation by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to increase tuition at all 45 schools governed by TBR.
The tuition increase is a direct result of the “no new taxes” budget passed by the Tennessee legislature earlier this month. The budget wiped out $42 million earmarked for Gov. Don Sundquist’s higher education budget.
The 15 percent increase, which goes into effect this fall, is expected to inflate in-state annual tuition to $2,856. In-state tuition for the 2000-01 academic year was $2,484. Out-of-state tuition is expected to rise from $5,786 to $6,654.
Tuition at The University has increased by at least three percent every year since 1990. The 15 percent increase is the largest increase ever imposed by TBR and follows last year’s 10 percent increase.
“It indicates that the general assembly is not particularly concerned about the low level of support for education in Tennessee, and we are shifting the burden to students,” said TBR spokesperson Mary Morgan. “It certainly is a worrisome situation.”
Morgan said the vice president of TBR, Jack Fishman, proposed regents and staff members hold a retreat to study their options.
“I think the message the budget sends is that the state is not in a position to invest in higher education as well as it does in other areas of public policy,” said THEC executive director Dr. Richard Rhoda.
On top of the 15 percent tuition increase, The University will impose a fee of $10 per credit hour for juniors and seniors enrolled at the Fogelman College of Business and Economics. Fogelman graduate students will pay an additional fee of $20 per credit hour.
The additional credit-hour costs were proposed by The University to address shortcomings outlined during the reaccreditation process of the Fogelman College.
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, an accrediting agency, warned Fogelman College officials the school was in danger of losing its accreditation if improvements at the college were not made in the next three years.
“We intend to preserve the accreditation of the Fogelman College,” said U of M president Shirley Raines in a press release. “The increase in credit-hour fees will begin to address the issues of decreasing the number of courses taught by adjunct professors, increasing the use of technology, improvements in curriculum and retention of faculty.”
According to Raines, the extra fees will not completely fix the situation at Fogelman College and The University will “still need significant contributions from private donors to address the issues fully.”
Because the tuition hike only addresses fixed costs, some members of TBR and THEC have expressed concern over how the increase will affect enrollment.
“Historically, tuition increases have not had a significant impact on enrollment,” said vice president for student affairs Dr. Donald Carson. “However, in the past 12 years, we’ve never had an increase of this great a percentage.”
Legislators have instructed TBR to study ways to do more with less.
A bill sponsored by Rep. Matt Kisber (D-Jackson), chairman of the House Finance Ways and Means Committee, orders TBR to “study their operations to determine how they can operate more efficiently and with more limited sources.”
“The schools have cut back and cut back and cut back to the point that there is not anymore fat in there,” Morgan said.
The bill goes on to say TBR should “examine the impact on their respective institutions of the reductions made in this budget and the reality that the level of funding of the higher education formula may decline.”
Rhoda said he’s hoping legislators will improve Tennessee’s woeful higher education funding.
“I’m optimistic,” he said. “It may be a few years away, but I’ve got to have faith in the leadership in the legislature. I guess the question is: How bad do things need to get before there is enough outrage to just say we will not tolerate this?”
Sundquist has the ability to veto the budget, but the veto can be overruled by a simple majority vote by both houses of the legislature.The Tennessee Board of Regents approved a 15 percent increase in tuition Tuesday for schools under its jurisdiction, including The University of Memphis.
The University will raise tuition 15 percent for undergraduates, graduate students and law students.
TBR’s approval comes on the heels of last week’s recommendation by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to increase tuition at all 45 schools governed by TBR.
The tuition increase is a direct result of the “no new taxes” budget passed by the Tennessee legislature earlier this month. The budget wiped out $42 million earmarked for Gov. Don Sundquist’s higher education budget.
The 15 percent increase, which goes into effect this fall, is expected to inflate in-state annual tuition to $2,856. In-state tuition for the 2000-01 academic year was $2,484. Out-of-state tuition is expected to rise from $5,786 to $6,654.
Tuition at The University has increased by at least three percent every year since 1990. The 15 percent increase is the largest increase ever imposed by TBR and follows last year’s 10 percent increase.
“It indicates that the general assembly is not particularly concerned about the low level of support for education in Tennessee, and we are shifting the burden to students,” said TBR spokesperson Mary Morgan. “It certainly is a worrisome situation.”
Morgan said the vice president of TBR, Jack Fishman, proposed regents and staff members hold a retreat to study their options.
“I think the message the budget sends is that the state is not in a position to invest in higher education as well as it does in other areas of public policy,” said THEC executive director Dr. Richard Rhoda.
On top of the 15 percent tuition increase, The University will impose a fee of $10 per credit hour for juniors and seniors enrolled at the Fogelman College of Business and Economics. Fogelman graduate students will pay an additional fee of $20 per credit hour.
The additional credit-hour costs were proposed by The University to address shortcomings outlined during the reaccreditation process of the Fogelman College.
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, an accrediting agency, warned Fogelman College officials the school was in danger of losing its accreditation if improvements at the college were not made in the next three years.
“We intend to preserve the accreditation of the Fogelman College,” said U of M president Shirley Raines in a press release. “The increase in credit-hour fees will begin to address the issues of decreasing the number of courses taught by adjunct professors, increasing the use of technology, improvements in curriculum and retention of faculty.”
According to Raines, the extra fees will not completely fix the situation at Fogelman College and The University will “still need significant contributions from private donors to address the issues fully.”
Because the tuition hike only addresses fixed costs, some members of TBR and THEC have expressed concern over how the increase will affect enrollment.
“Historically, tuition increases have not had a significant impact on enrollment,” said vice president for student affairs Dr. Donald Carson. “However, in the past 12 years, we’ve never had an increase of this great a percentage.”
Legislators have instructed TBR to study ways to do more with less.
A bill sponsored by Rep. Matt Kisber (D-Jackson), chairman of the House Finance Ways and Means Committee, orders TBR to “study their operations to determine how they can operate more efficiently and with more limited sources.”
“The schools have cut back and cut back and cut back to the point that there is not anymore fat in there,” Morgan said.
The bill goes on to say TBR should “examine the impact on their respective institutions of the reductions made in this budget and the reality that the level of funding of the higher education formula may decline.”
Rhoda said he’s hoping legislators will improve Tennessee’s woeful higher education funding.
“I’m optimistic,” he said. “It may be a few years away, but I’ve got to have faith in the leadership in the legislature. I guess the question is: How bad do things need to get before there is enough outrage to just say we will not tolerate this?”
Sundquist has the ability to veto the budget, but the veto can be overruled by a simple majority vote by both houses of the legislature.
