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News

Regents may propose tuition hike

Additional increases will be needed to pay for new programs, hiring professors, Regents chairman says

By Jessica Robertson
Senior Staff Writer

The UH System Board of Regents will likely propose another increase in tuition and fees next semester. Board of Regents Chairman Leroy L. Hermes said the increase will be necessary to fund programs and hire new faculty in several departments.

College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Dean John Antel, in a meeting with that college's faculty last week, discussed the severity of the financial bind the college may face without sufficient funding. 

The 5 percent increase in tuition and fees for resident undergraduate students approved by the regents in April will not be enough to support programs or hire new faculty at CLASS, Antel said.

"We are just beginning to think philosophically about how to deal with (sources of additional funding)," Hermes said. "We know we're going to have to do something, and we'll start discussing that in the spring. We know that we'll need to have another increase (in tuition and fees). It's inevitable, but we'll go through the same judicial process (as we did last spring), as painful as it is."

The Texas Legislature passed tuition deregulation laws in 2003 after state funding decreased 5 percent in the previous legislative session. 

Deregulation allows a university's board of regents to determine the tuition and fees needed to cover operating costs, including salary increases, new programs and hiring additional faculty. 

"We were told that if universities were not prudent in the (tuition and fees) increases made this year, the Legislature might go back in the next session and eliminate the deregulation laws," Hermes said. "We could have raised the tuition to give everyone (in the departments) what they wanted, but we would have taken a hit in the Legislature."

The regents initially proposed a 9 percent increase but settled on an increase of just 5 percent after receiving criticism from the Legislature.

"The Legislature feels that when you put (funding) on the backs of the students, you limit the ability of a lot of students to attend college," Hermes said. "All universities in the state were cautious and spent a lot of time analyzing the numbers to set aside funds for hiring additional professors and financing programs."

Finding adequate funding will not be easy, Antel said. The college imposed a $4.50 per credit hour increase in addition to the general increase this semester. CLASS includes 14 departments and schools and serves about 8,000 undergraduates with about 300 permanent faculty members.

"A lot of the problem is higher energy and health benefits costs," Antel said in an e-mail to The Daily Cougar. "This is totally beyond the control of legislators, regents, students (or) anyone. Times are tough, and it is not anyone's fault. The regents have good reasons to hold down tuition to maintain affordability for the students. We do not have any easy choices."

The Board of Regents is responsible for coming to a resolution for funding that will be in the best interest of students, University administrators and the Legislature, Hermes said.

"It's a very difficult situation, and the regents are put in a situation to come to a compromise to meet the needs of both sides," he said. "We wanted our decision to please the University and the political aspect."

The regents will reconvene in February to discuss possible increases in tuition and fees, Hermes said.
 

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