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NEWS | KANSAN.COM
Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2015
7A
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Some students' tuition and fees to increase 3.6 percent
VICKY D|AZ-CAMACHO
@vickyd_c
Some students at state universities in Kansas, including the University of Kansas, face a tuition increase that could cost them anywhere between $150 to $400 per semester.
About one-third of incoming freshmen, transfer and current students will be affected by a 3.6 percent tuition rate increase at state schools, decided June 18. But students with fixed tuition, which is about two-thirds of the student population, will not see an increase this fall.
The increase in tuition and fees will cost undergraduate students up to several hundred dollars per semester. For example, an out-of-state undergraduate tuition would increase by $413.25, and instate by $158.25, according to the Regents tuition and fees report for 2015-16.
"Because of the four year
tuition compact that [the Kansas Board of Regents] signed into motion in 2012,[the tuition increase] hasn't affected me at all," said Haley Becker, a senior majoring
"There will, I'm sure, be consequences [for] what had been envisioned for [the University of Kansas] next year," said Breeze Richardson, the director of communications for the Kansas Board of Regents. "They will not be able to bring in that much revenue."
Compared with the other regents schools, tuition at the University of Kansas and University of Kansas Medical Center is already the most expensive. However, the limit ensures that the extra money paid helps the state rebound from its multimillion-dollar budget deficit.
BREEZE RICHARDSON KBOR spokesperson
"There will, I'm sure, be consequences [for] what had been envisioned for [the] University of Kansas] next year."
BIG 12 TUITION RATES FOR 2014-15
The limit on the tuition increase means it won't affect some students.
Sources: University of Kansas, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, Oklahoma University, Oklahoma State University, Texas Tech and University of Texas
in unified early childhood education from Springfield, Mo. "Without the guarantee that my tuition would not be raised, assuming I graduate in the traditional four years, I would have not been able to afford going to KU."
Each year, every Regents university submits a detailed tuition and fees proposal that goes through a review process that lasts almost the entire year. In that time, Richardson said, the Board of Regents looks at what programs need what resources, the financial aid the University wants to provide, where costs are
The tuition compact, also known as guaranteed tuition, was signed in 2012 and means tuition is fixed for first-time freshmen for four years. The limit approved by legislators and the Regents makes sure that tuition and fees cannot exceed an increase of more than 3.6 percent for all students who do not have guaranteed tuition, whether residents or nonresidents, this academic year.
kept down, the projected enrollment and where adjustments are proposed.
The legislature and Regents focused on six campuses over two days of session and there was "a lot of conversation," Richardson said.
"The Regents, especially those who work on committee, spend a lot of time to know what the need is
and are in a better position to determine tuition rates than the legislature is," she said. "The spirit was to hold this to a lesser increase. That's what was done."
The original proposed tuition increase was 3.8 percent for both out-of-state and in-state undergraduate and graduate students, and a $ ^{0} $6 percent increase for
in-state and out-of-state KU Med students. For instate University of Kansas students, that increase would have also increased the total tuition and fee amount up to 4.9 percent.
But legislators decided the 3.6 percent limited increase should include both tuition and fees.
Tuition has been increasing
substantially, according to the Kansas Board of Regents data report from 2014. Tuition has risen approximately 35.5 percent since 2009. The average tuition at the University in 2009 was $3,521 with required fees. In the 2014 academic year, tuition rose to $4,639, including required fees.
- Edited by Kate Miller
785.856.2870 / 1741 Massachusetts (Across from Dillons) / ku@beatthebookstore
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