Higher Ed Utah

SALT LAKE CITY – At a meeting held today at Salt Lake Community College’s Miller Campus, the State Board of Regents approved new increases for tuition at Utah’s colleges and universities. The average total tuition increase for an undergraduate Utah resident, system wide averages 5.6% in annual tuition for 15 credit hours. That makes this year’s increase the lowest in more than a decade. When compared to institutions in surrounding states, on average, tuition is lower at Utah’s colleges and universities.

“Higher education saw a budget increase from the Legislature this year for the first time since 2008. Still, Utah’s colleges and universities need to raise tuition in order to fund the institution’s portion of employee compensation and meet the demand of enrollment growth,” said Commissioner of Higher Education Bill Sederburg. “Fortunately, the legislature made support for higher education a priority this year, but in order to hold funding per student constant, we still need to make up for lack of funding in previous years.” New funding after this year’s legislative session totals $21.3 million, or approximately a 3.2% ongoing increase.

“Prior to this year, state support for our colleges and universities was on the decline,” noted Board of Regents Chair David Jordan. “We are grateful the legislature saw to fund higher education this year so that we may keep tuition increases at a minimum. As state budgets improve in the future, we hope the legislature will invest in higher education in a way that allows us to further limit tuition increases.”

Tuition at USHE institutions is approved in two tiers: This year, Tier I tuition is a 4.5% increase applied equally system-wide to assist institutions in covering various needs common to all institutions. The second tier comes as a recommendation from institution presidents only after discussion with Boards of Trustees and student hearings, as a means of covering institutional priorities and initiatives. The State Board of Regents must also approve Tier II tuition.

Below is a table showing the next year’s total tuition increases for the state’s eight colleges and universities (based on a full year for an undergraduate student who is a Utah resident):

Tuition increases take effect summer term, 2012.

About The Utah System of Higher Education: USHE includes all of Utah’s eight public colleges and universities: The University of Utah, Utah State University, Weber State University, Southern Utah University, Snow College, Dixie State College, Utah Valley University and Salt Lake Community College. For more information on the Utah System of Higher Education, visit our website at http://www.higheredutah.org.

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