Sun Star | Story

	Board of Regents to vote on higher tuition
	by Nate Raymond Sun Star

	If President Mark Hamilton has his way, regents will approve a 17 percent tuition increase over two years at their September meeting in Anchorage. UA President Mark Hamilton had long argued for four years of annual 10 percent increases, the last taking effect next fall if approved. But his proposal for a 7 percent tuition increase for fall 2007 went against expectations that tuition would grow only enough to match inflation. For tuition purposes, UA defines inflation as 4.3 percent. Hamilton said any increase in 2007 must be higher than the inflation level, but he picked 7 percent rather than 10 percent in case regents did not approve the plan. The university’s budget would only take a small hit if it was not approved, and if it was, “well, that’s obviously revenue-friendly,” he said. If approved, full-time undergraduates could expect to pay around $3,060 for the 2006 academic year and $3,264 in 2007, according to University of Alaska spokesperson Kate Ripley. Undergraduates taking a mix of lower- and upper-division courses currently pay about $2,784. Graduate students taking nine credits would pay $4,824 in 2006 and $5,166 in 2007, according to Ripley, compared to $4,392 today. Out-of-state students would take the hardest hit, with tuition jumping from $9,156 this year to $9,756 next year and $10,440 the following. Hamilton began pitching his four-year tuition plan six years ago, choosing 10 percent a year because anything more “would be a little rough on people,” he said. The intention was to close the gap between UA’s tuition rates and its peers, Hamilton said. Outside institutions cost about 30 percent more, he said. The problem was that while UA increased tuition, other colleges, faced with an economic recession, upped theirs as state funding levels dropped across the country, Hamilton said. “So what happened is, after four years at 10 percent, we are actually farther behind than we were when we started because we didn’t even match the movement across the country, some of which was absolutely terrifying,” Hamilton said. Some universities were posting 25 percent tuition hikes, Hamilton said. “So many other universities did this differently that maybe I should have done it differently myself,” Hamilton said. ASUAF President Joe Blanchard criticized the way the university rose tuition annually. Instead, the university should have increased tuition every two years, he said. “You don’t block it all together because it makes education unaffordable,” Blanchard said. Nationally, tuition increases slowed last year, according to the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. Tuition rose about 10.6 percent on average at public four-year institutions, with the average bill coming in at $5,143, according to the association. Alaska, New York and the District of Columbia were the only states with tuition increases below the national trend, the association reported. If regents chose to go higher than 7 percent in 2007, Hamilton’s proposal suggests dedicating the excess funds to a needs-based financial aid program. Needs-based financial aid has become a hot-button issue with the regents. An independent report commissioned by the university and presented in May found UA would need $1.1 million to $3.7 million in additional funds to support a needs-based aid program. In a 2004 annual report card on college costs, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education gave Alaska an "F" in affordability. Alaska lacks “investment in need-based financial aid, and does not offer low-priced college opportunities,” according to the report. Lower and middle class students in Alaska spend about one-third of their annual income on college, the center’s report found. The average undergraduate student in Alaska borrowed $3,277 in 2003, the report said. The Board of Regents meets Sept. 20 and 21 in Anchorage.
	Comment on this story...



August 30, 2005