In the next stage of the tuition-setting process, the Arizona Board of Regents concluded Monday that fees must increase to offset the cuts made under Gov. Doug Ducey.
However, the board has yet to finalize how it will execute these increases. Under consideration were potential differential tuitions based on individual colleges, program fees and class fees.
ASU President Michael Crow said the University will keep tuition accessible despite anticipated increases.
“We are to maintain our strategy of delivering to the people of Arizona (an accessible tuition) in the midst of continued and not well-understood budget reductions by the state,” he said.
Crow said he hopes to avoid class fees while increasing differential tuition fees, including the previously planned $250 increase in equipment fees for the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism’s incoming freshmen.
Barrett, the Honors College will also see an increased fee for the rising cost associated with the school’s projects and benefits.
Regent Rick Myers said the Board plans to find a way to maintain the competitive value of Arizona’s universities.
“Unlike our governor and our Legislature, the regents remain committed to a better future for the state and committed to accomplishing to goals that (we) put in place to raise educational attainment of our population so we have a competitive workforce,” he said.
In the meantime, Myers said tuition must increase in order to lessen the blow of statewide cuts.
“Regretfully, (we) raise tuition to make up for a small portion of the cuts (we have) received from the state and (we have) taken many other hardships to rise to the occasion and still maintain quality while (we) be as efficient as possible,” he said.
Regent Jay Heiler said the Board will do what it can to maintain financial accessibility in the wake of budget cuts they were unable to influence.
“We are dealing on one hand with a political process, and we are dealing on the other hand with a real-live, increasingly competitive market,” he said. “We are focusing as well as we can as an enterprise … with our leadership teams on that which we can control.”
Reach the reporter at aplante@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @aimeenplante.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.
