Tuition at ASU could surpass $9,000 for the first time next fall as many students face tuition increases of at least 15 percent under a proposal released by the University on Friday.
Proposed increases for the 2011-2012 school year range from $1,198 to $1,775, depending on class rank and residency.
Tuition increases, which the Arizona Board of Regents will consider in the coming weeks, are in response to Gov. Jan Brewer’s budget proposal that would cut $170 million from the state’s university system. Based on this proposal, ASU is set to endure $78 million in cuts to state funding.
Before the governor’s proposal, ASU was following a two-year tuition increase plan that began last fall. But with larger than expected cuts on the table, the University adjusted that plan.
Under the two-year plan, incoming resident freshmen would have paid $8,894 per year. The adjusted number tacks on an additional $314, bringing the total to $9,208.
ASU is calling to increase tuition for current in-state undergraduates by about $1,240 per year. The overall tuition total for these students varies by campus and class, with the numbers falling between $7,571 and $9,033.
The proposed increase for out-of-state undergraduates is $1,550, bringing their yearly tuition to $21,807.
The highest tuition price tag belongs to out-of-state graduate students, who are facing a rise to more than $23,800, up from about $22,000. In-state graduate students could dish out more than $9,700, up from this year’s $8,509.
Tuition increases will make up only 40 percent of the proposed $78 million budget cut to ASU. The remaining 60 percent would come from additional cuts and efficiency measures, but no specifics have yet been given.
ASU is also asking for differential tuition and program fees for certain programs.
Law students could see a $1,500 tuition increase, journalism freshmen and sophomores could see a $250 increase, and freshmen and sophomores in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts could see a $150 increase.
New or increased fees are proposed for programs within the business school, design school, public programs school and others.
UA and NAU also released tuition proposals Friday. Most NAU students — 63 percent — will not see an increase in tuition next fall. The rest will see tuition increase 15 percent, or about $1,044.
“With careful fiscal management, we were able to request very modest increases this year,” NAU President John Haeger said in a statement.
Students at UA’s main campus face the largest increases in the state this year, with a proposed $1,500 increase for in-state students. This would put UA tuition above $10,000 for in-state undergraduates.
Out-of-state students at UA, however, are projected to see an increase of $600.
The state Senate passed its own budget proposal Tuesday, recommending an additional $65 million cut to the University system, on top of Brewer’s proposed $170 million. It would also eliminate the state’s contribution to the Arizona Financial Aid Trust, a financial aid program that is funded by both student fees and state funds.
In a statement released Thursday, ABOR Chairman Anne Mariucci said the Regents worked alongside the governor to develop her budget reduction plan that included the $170 million cut.
“The Senate’s much larger cuts would likely have severe short-term impacts on the quality of higher education in Arizona with higher student tuition, larger class sizes, reduced programming and less ability for students to complete degrees in four years,” Mariucci said.
In a written statement released Thursday, ASU President Michael Crow said the Senate’s budget would reduce state funding at ASU to less than $4,000 per student —a rate not seen since the 1960s.
“The Senate’s proposed budget cuts will not only set ASU back decades in terms of per-student state funding, but they will also set Arizona’s economic recovery back years because ASU is one of the state’s most important economic drivers,” Crow said.
President Jacob Goulding of Tempe’s Undergraduate Student Government said Brewer’s proposal seems to be the most friendly toward education.
“I’m certainly not behind cuts to education,” Goulding said. “But [Brewer’s proposal] seems to be the most reasonable given the other proposals.”
ASU spokeswoman Terri Shafer said ASU officials can’t speculate on what the University will do if the Senate’s budget proposal passes the House of Representatives and is signed into law.
As the state budget moves closer to finalization, student activism is in full swing.
The Arizona Students’ Association organized a campaign last week in which about 500 students sent emails to their state senators telling them not to make cuts to higher education. About 200 students called their senators by phone.
“We need to ensure that the entire burden of education cuts isn’t just put on students,” ASA Chair Elma Delic said.
ASA is set to release its own tuition proposal in the next two weeks, Delic said.
The association will be holding rallies on each campus this week in order to educate students about the cuts, and USG Tempe will also have tables set up near the Memorial Union.
Goulding said USG Tempe is not taking a stance for or against the University’s proposal at this time, but is more concerned with educating students about the state cuts and tuition plans.
He said the student government will present its view at ABOR’s tuition hearing on March 28. At this meeting, student governments from all three universities will be given a chance to speak to the Board.
Tuition will officially be set at ABOR’s April 7 meeting in Tucson.
Reach the reporter at kjdaly@asu.edu