While some University of Memphis students will grumble when they log on to ebursar to pay their recently increased fall tuition, the rising cost could keep some from coming to campus.
Each year since Heather Hyden was born the cost of an education at The U of M has gone up. When the 20-year-old sophomore heard the news of the latest tuition hike, she said she's had enough.
"I might as well go somewhere else," she said. "With the tuition going up there's no sense in me staying."
Hyden said she plans to pack up and head east for an education - not to UT but to the U.K. The England-bound geography major said she is "like the opposite of a pilgrim" leaving for Britain to escape "education persecution."
For some time, Hyden had been contemplating going to the United Kingdom for a "better geography program," but when she heard about the tuition increase, she was convinced to leave.
For Hyden the roughly $7,000 a year cost at Sheffield Hallam University (England's sixth largest University) is a better bargain than the $5,802 cost of The U of M.
When the Tennessee Board of Regents announced the 10.4 percent cost hike on June 29, it didn't change the location for Christopher Johnston's graduation. It just put it on hold.
"It won't keep me from graduating but it might delay it," Johnston, 22, said.
The senior Spanish major said he plans to take a semester or two off to save up money to pay for the inflating cost of education.
A 6 percent jump in tuition and a 32.5 percent rise in fees make up the 10.4 percent total cost increase. The tuition at the University of Tennessee was also raised 6 percent.
The jump in tuition won't sting as much for students receiving the Hope scholarship. The state raised the stipend $200 - from $3,800 to $4,000 - exactly enough to offset a rise in athletic fees.
Mobilized service members who were stationed for at least six months of active duty won't be burden by the tuition hike. A law went into effect June 25 that freezes tuition for active members of Reserves and National Guard. When a member returns, the tuition stays static for a year plus the amount of time served.
