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Spring tuition increased by $19 per credit hour

By Lisa Street
The Daily Cougar

Unless UH finds an alternative method for the higher education funding lost during Texas state budget cuts, the Spring 2004 tuition increase proposed at the campus forum by Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Edward P. Sheridan on Monday may have students' piggy banks squealing.

"What we need to do in order for the University to open next month is we have to increase designated tuition by $19 per student credit hour, but it won't start until the second semester," Sheridan said. 

UH needs to raise $28.3 million to break even this year after suffering a $12.1 million setback from state budget cuts and losing $16.2 million because of University needs.

In an effort to alleviate the lack of funding, UH will cut its budget by $9.2 million, employ $2.6 million in reserves and collect $7.3 million from the Fall 2003 tuition increase of $2 per semester credit hour approved by the Board of Regents in April. The remaining deficit will be accommodated by the $19 increase in tuition for Spring '04, but UH will still fall short by $1 million and may have to rely on UH presidential finalist G. Jay Gogue's fundraising abilities to pull through.

"Even with the increases that we are talking about which are significant for our students, Texas will still remain one of the lowest costing major universities in the country," Sheridan said.

Although a fee increase may seem disheartening to students, House Bill 3015, which defines tuition deregulation, mandates that 20 percent of all undergraduate tuition and 15 percent of all graduate tuition charged in excess of $46 per semester credit hour be allocated to a financial assistance program that may include grants, scholarships, loans and other forms of financial aid.

Also, a separate 5 percent of all graduate and undergraduate tuition that exceeds $46 will be funneled into a state coordinating board for the Texas B-On-Time Loan Program that will be available for funding to UH in the spring.

So, if the 36,000 students expected to attend this year are all full-time students, the amount of increase in designated tuition allotted for financial assistance will be around $2 million. It's a slight relief to many because according to a report by the Congressional Research Service, national financial assistance will be reduced by $270 million in grants and will exclude about 84,000 students from receiving any aid at all. 

UH is not receiving more money from the students but instead is covering for the tax dollars that will not be collected from the state, Sheridan said.

If state funding for higher education does not improve, the University plans to continue increasing its tuition to meet the rising costs of education.
 

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