USU task force to tackle tuition

Utah State University now has a task force to tackle the issue of rising tuition costs, particularly as they affect students from low-income backgrounds.

One result could be a kind of freeze on tuition for students entering USU for their first year. While fees could still go up, tuition would remain constant for four years.

Another idea is that tuition would not increase by more than a cumulative 6 or 7 percent during a student's four-year stay at USU.

In extreme cases, students at or below the poverty line may not have to pay tuition.

"We're considering a host of new and different ways to address the issue of tuition," said USU President Kermit Hall.

The task force, formed last week, is expected to take the next three months to come up with a reform package that addresses tuition and financial aid.

Hall said he plans to take proposals to the State Board of Regents in late February and request a phased-in package for USU or suggest changes for all 10 of Utah's public colleges and universities.

Regents already have approved a 4.5 percent first-tier tuition increase for Utah's colleges and universities effective next fall.

A second-tier increase is also expected, possibly raising the cumulative hike to at least the 10 percent range for most schools. In some cases, that number could be much higher, as the three-year history of a second-tier increase allowance has shown. Regents must sign off on requests for those increases as well.

Regents chairman Nolan Karras voted against the first increase for next year. He wanted the proposed 4 percent.

"I think we put a reasonable amount on the table," he said. "But I don't think we want to get carried away."

Karras' concern is that the burden of funding higher education is beginning to weigh too heavily on the student and not enough on the state. Karras said he likes the idea of a university-level task force but that more debate needs to take place at the legislative level on what constitutes a "reasonable" ratio. And doing more in the area of student aid, he said, needs to be part of those talks.

If USU does implement tuition changes, Hall said, it would require a commitment from the state, which has been unable to fund new student growth in recent years. Schools have had to juggle budgets to cover operating and maintenance costs.

USU's task force will look at the idea of establishing a guarantee or "understanding" of what incoming students expect to pay over a four-year period, according to Janis Boettinger, president-elect of the faculty senate and a task force member.

If USU, already considered a bargain among its peer institutions, is going to attract and retain students, it can't impose "unreasonably" high increases. If students have a clearer idea coming in what tuition will be for four years, "then they are probably more likely to stay than go elsewhere to find lower tuition," she said.

Most of USU's student population comes from within the state, Boettinger added, and they expect to pay lower tuition.

"And that's not going to be the case forever," she said. "There probably needs to be some plan developed to slowly increase tuition to the point that it's in the market with other universities. But we don't want to alienate the students who are already here."

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