Scaled-back tuition hikes linked to Utah's surplus

A large state budget surplus has lessened fears of large tuition hikes at Utah's state colleges and universities.

Most schools are banking on a 3.5 percent boost across the board and additional jumps ranging from 3 percent to 8 percent at individual institutions. That's lower than anticipated because lawmakers were able to give Utah's nine public colleges and universities more than $57 million in new money.

Students won't know precisely how much more they will pay until the state Board of Regents meets March 18 to approve the 3.5 percent first-tier hike and the schools' varying second-tier increases.

For now, the University of Utah is planning an overall 8.5 percent jump. That would raise resident tuition by about $340 a year — based on the current $4,000 tab, which includes tuition and fees.

Utah State is looking at a 9.7 percent overall boost — or $322 more for resident tuition — for the fall, much lower than an earlier proposed 43 percent tuition hike over three years. The current cost is $3,321 a year for resident tuition and fees.

Snow College President Michael Benson acknowledged that students are not happy about another tuition increase, no matter how much. But they support spending second-tier dollars to hire three more faculty members as a way of "smoothing out the bottleneck courses," he said.

"Students are happy when they get the courses they need to graduate," he said.