Provost hears student feedback on tuition and fee proposal

As the university moves through its process for establishing tuition and fees for the next academic year, Scott Coltrane, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, met with a group of students to discuss the Tuition and Fee Advisory Board’s current thinking and how it might affect undergraduate students.

A recommendation currently being formalized would increase tuition by $9 per credit hour — or $405 per year — for in-state undergraduate students. Out-of-state students would see an increase of $30 per-credit-hour — or $1,350 per year. This equates to a 4.76 percent increase for in-state students and a 4.46 percent increase for out-of-state students.

“The tuition plan that has been developed over the last few months reflects the University of Oregon’s focus on continuing to build excellence and aligning resources to support our core academic mission,” Coltrane said. “Under this proposed plan, resident tuition at the UO would remain below the average of peer research institutions across the country and an excellent value for Oregon students and families.”

In addition to the proposed tuition change, administrative divisions are being asked to redirect 2 percent — approximately $3 million total — of their overall budgets to fund strategic investment opportunities.

Together, administrative savings and tuition dollars would go toward an additional $1.4 million in financial aid, $3 million for information technology improvements, $1.5 million for faculty hiring, $2.2 million for medical insurance costs, $1.5 million in increased costs for utilities, insurance, rent, debt and assessments and $7.6 million for negotiated salary increases for faculty and staff.

In addition, the university continues to make good on its commitment to make investments in advising and course offerings, all designed to increase timely graduation rates, which will save students thousands of dollars by earning their degree sooner.

“While we certainly understand that tuition increases are never popular, they must be viewed within the context of public disinvestment in Oregon’s higher education system,” Coltrane said. “We are deeply appreciative of the additional state support we received this biennium, but it comes following years of disinvestment that has shifted the burden of paying for higher education to students and families. We are focused on using these tuition dollars to make strategic investments in academic programs, financial aid, student support initiatives and campus infrastructure that will bring significant benefit to students.”

Should the current proposal be accepted by the president and the provost, and ultimately approved by the Board of Trustees of the University of Oregon, resident tuition and fee costs would still fall below the average when compared to other public members of the Association of American Universities. Nonresident tuition would fall slightly above average.

Currently the UO’s resident fees are near the bottom when compared to other Pac-12 schools and nonresident fees are just below average.

Coltrane and President Michael H. Schill will now review the proposal, taking the feedback from the forum into consideration. Their recommendation will then be forwarded to trustees for consideration at their March meeting.

By Tobin J. Klinger, Senior Director of Public Affairs Communications