Utah college students can expect to pay about 10 percent more in tuition next year as lawmakers continue a long-standing trend of transferring the cost of higher education from the state onto students and their families.
University of Utah trustees on Tuesday approved a "second-tier" tuition hike of between 7.5 and 9.5 percent, with the final figure contingent on how deeply the Legislature cuts higher education spending once the session ends Thursday. Southern Utah University administrators, meanwhile, will propose a hike of between 10 and 15 percent at the Cedar City school's "truth in tuition" hearing Thursday.
Although tuition at Utah schools has doubled over the past decade, increasing at two to three times the rate of inflation, a year at the state's flagship school costs about 70 percent of what big state research universities charge, according to U. finance director Paul Brinkman.
David Pershing, the U.'s vice president for academic affairs, told trustees the school is "walking a tight rope between keeping the university affordable and maintaining quality. We are a low-tuition university and we need to stay that way."
While still a major mouthful, this year's proposed increase is "easier to swallow" for students because they see trustees and state Regents fighting to preserve state funding, U. student president Tayler Clough said.