Tuition bill ready for Huntsman's pen

Getting an education in Utah will be a lot cheaper for military troops and some out-of-state residents with two bills that passed final hurdles in the Senate on Friday and are now headed for the governor's approval.

Both bills increase opportunities to receive in-state tuition, with one upping the number of tuition waivers for out-of-state students and the other allowing active-duty military originally from Utah to pay the in-state tuition rate.

Typically, a student would have to live in the state for three years or complete 60 credit hours before they are eligible for in-state rates.

That could make a difference for troops like Mark Goodwin, who lived in Utah before traveling to Virginia, Hawaii and Iraq as a member of the military. Goodwin faced a $6,000 hike in his yearly tuition bill at Utah Valley State College after he returned from his eight-year tour of duty.

The military tuition legislation did hit a few bumps in the House with some representatives lobbying to only extend the in-state rate to men and women who had not actively declared residency elsewhere while serving in the military. That move lacked enough support, however, and the original bill moved through a unanimous approval in the Senate on Friday.

"I feel it was appropriate to not penalize those who served in our armed forces and are truly serving our country. We penalize them upon their return in getting an education that will benefit our state," said bill sponsor Michael Morley, R-Spanish Fork.

A second bill to increase the number of nonresident tuition waivers will likely be a boon to border schools like Utah State University, which has seen a rapid decrease in the number of Idaho and Wyoming students.

The legislation will increase the number of tuition waivers for the nonresident portion of tuition from 500 to 900 available waivers. That increase could make a sizable difference to USU, which has seen the number of out-of-staters decrease by 300-500 students in the past three years, said Joyce Kinkead, USU vice provost for undergraduate studies and research.

Although the extra 400 waivers are for all 10 state universities and colleges, Kinkead said USU leaders are hoping to get a large bite of them to give out-of-state residents a break on the extra tuition.

The creation of four-year degrees at BYU-Idaho also contributed to a waning Idaho population, she said, creating a "perfect storm" that left USU hurting for students and revenues.