Regents exploring options to hold the line on in-state tuition

AUSTIN – The University of Texas System Board of Regents Wednesday approved tuition rates for out-of-state undergraduate and graduate students at the system’s nine academic institutions, but did not act on a recommendation for modest increases for in-state resident tuition. The Board will revisit the issue at meeting scheduled for May 20.

Board of Regents Chairman Paul Foster said he would like the extra time for regents and system leaders to explore other avenues of recurrent funding, particularly researching ways to use revenue from the Permanent University Fund, in order to ensure UT institutions have the resources they need while not placing additional burden on students. Foster, with Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa’s support, said he’d like to find ways to continually support the needs of UT institutions without defaulting to tuition increases to do so.

Most UT System in-state undergraduate students have seen little to no increase in tuition since fall 2012 and no increases in mandatory student fees since 2011. Fee increases were not considered this year.

All nine academic campuses developed tuition proposals after receiving student input and submitted them to the UT System Office of Academic Affairs.

About The University of Texas System

Educating students, providing care for patients, conducting groundbreaking research and serving the needs of Texans and the nation for more than 130 years, The University of Texas System is one of the largest public university systems in the United States, with nine academic universities, six health institutions and a fall 2013 enrollment of more than 213,000. The UT System confers more than one-third of the state’s undergraduate degrees, educates two-thirds of the state’s health care professionals annually and accounts for almost 70 percent of all research funds awarded to public universities in Texas. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $14.6 billion (FY 2014) including $3 billion in sponsored programs funded by federal, state, local and private sources. With about 90,000 employees, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.