Tuition Feeze Proposed
By Hayley Shaw
Governor Rick Perry proposed a freeze on college tuition during his Jan. 27 State of the State Address.
The proposal, if passed, would allow college students to get their tuition frozen at the rate they paid when they entered as a freshmen. The tuition would be frozen for four years as an incentive to finish school on time.
“For many young Texans, the next step is college,” Perry said during his address. “Let’s work together to make college accessible and affordable for more qualified, motivated students than ever before.”
“His goal here, with freezing tuition, is to make higher education more affordable and accessible for students,” said Katherine Cesinger, deputy press secretary and spokesperson for the Governor’s office.
There used to be a cap on tuition increases until 2003; Perry and the Texas Legislature decided to deregulate tuition as a way to help with budget restraints.
As a trade off for decreasing state funding, the legislature allowed universities to set their own tuition rates. Tuition has risen in the state of Texas approximately 52 percent in the past five years.
“The leadership that the education systems do have can prioritize and, like we said with everyone, certainly with government, but everyone in Texas, really tightening our belts and prioritizing spending, especially with the economic times, is important,” Cesinger said.
The University of Texas-Dallas and The University of Texas-El Paso are already offering a four-year tuition lock. Right now they are the only universities in Texas to do so.
“In a guaranteed four-year tuition program, a student will pay the same amount in tuition for the four years he or she remains in good academic standing and then graduates; so, for instance, if you were to take a fifth year you would then pay whatever the incoming tuition rate is for that year,” said Anthony de Bruyn, director of public affairs with UT Systems.
UTEP’s tuition program guarantees that tuition and mandatory fees will not increase over a student’s four-year registration period as long as the student qualifies; meaning he or she is a Texas resident, enrolled in 15 credit hours a semester, completes 30 semester credit hours in an academic year and maintains a 2.0 GPA throughout his or her college career. The tuition freeze will not apply to out-of-state students, only in-state students.
How will the proposal affect community college students? Kate McGrath, adviser to the governor, and Lauren Connett, legislative aide, both said the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, THECB, is giving the authority to develop rules for community college students that will transfer to a four-year institution.
What will the tuition freeze mean for funding and services offered at UHCL? As of now no one has finalized any details relating to this proposal. It is still in the beginning stages.
The governor’s 2010-11 budget does reprioritize higher education funding. Special item funding has increased from $75.9 million in 1986-87 to $1,197.8 million in 2008-09, a 1.479 percent increase. Once funded, the governor stated that many of these special items will continue indefinitely, “long after the projected termination date.”
The governor believes that “recommitting these funds to student financial aid would better address the priorities of the state and the needs of students and recommends reallocating $645.7 million of special item and excellence funding to increase student financial aid and support other higher education priorities, including a fund, equal to one percent of each system’s funding, to support system priorities as determined by each system’s Chancellor and Board of Regents.”
He also recommends “transferring responsibilities for developmental education from four-year institutions to community colleges. This move would benefit students through lower tuition and would save the state $3.6 million over the biennium.”
From the savings identified above, he further recommends increasing student financial aid by an additional $110 million for the Texas Grant program.
“There are numerous tuition proposals being considered by legislators at this time,” said William Staples, president of UHCL. “It is too early to speculate as to which proposal will be approved, if any.”
