A 7.5 percent tuition increase looks likely for University of Memphis students in the fall, despite the legislature’s adoption of new taxes to avoid massive state budget cuts.
The projected tuition increase is less than half of the previously predicted 17 percent and would affect both graduate and undergraduate students.
“We’re certainly pleased we were able to keep tuition increases to not more than 7.5 percent,” U of M president Shirley Raines said in an interview this week.
The Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) will decide the exact amount of the tuition increase on Monday, Raines said.
Despite the better news about tuition, The U of M will still face financial struggles under the new budget due in part to rising utility and health care costs.
The state budget that legislators passed on July 3 will bring in about $15 million for the TBR system, Raines said. Yet, The U of M’s funding may look a lot like last year’s once TBR distributes the money among the six universities, 13 community colleges and 26 technology centers.
“We’re really operating at about the same level as last year,” Raines said.
Raines said The University “will be struggling to stay up” and will not be better off financially than it has been in past years. Also, The U of M must give an average of two percent raises to employees, and the money from the state will probably not be enough to cover the raises, Raines said.
Faculty members continue to leave The U of M, although numbers for this year are not yet available. The turnover rate for faculty nationally is about five percent, and The U of M rate in recent years has reached 15 percent. Raines said the turnover this past year was lower.
“If we could just get the salary problems resolved, I think we could keep the turnovers from being so great,” Raines said, adding The U of M has been able to retain many faculty members with national reputations.
The U of M budget and the tuition increase could not be set until the General Assembly passed a bill that provided funding for the next fiscal year’s state budget, ending the partial government shutdown last week.
The U of M is still feeling the effects of the shutdown that emptied buildings and sent 2,139 of the 2,713 employees home from July 1-4, ending first summer session classes one day early.
The shutdown, ordered by TBR, would have suspended classes starting July 1. However, The U of M asked for an extension to complete first summer session classes and was granted two days, according to provost Ralph Faudree. Universities in the UT system ended their summer session Friday, June 28.
TBR and the state must now decide how to compensate employees who were furloughed during the shutdown, as well as those who worked. According to Mary Ann Camp, assistant vice president for human resources, that decision will also be made by TBR Monday.
While The U of M deals with its own budget-related problems, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) will look at ways to maintain current services without budget increases at a meeting today.
THEC will focus on ways to keep enrollment at The U of M and other schools from growing beyond the numbers the budget can accommodate, Raines said.
TBR also plans some streamlining measures, one of which will result in students taking fewer hours in most degree programs. The U of M, like other Regents’ schools, is moving its degree programs to no more than 120 credit hours by the end of the year, down from the current 124 hours required by many programs. A program, like engineering, might require additional hours if necessary for accreditation, Faudree said.
Faudree also said general education core requirements would be transferable from one TBR school to another in the Regents’ plan.
Raines will attend the TBR and THEC meetings today and Monday.
