On March 17, the University of Oregon Board of Trustees approved a 3.75% tuition increase for in-state undergraduates and a 3.25% increase for out-of-state undergraduates.
Due to the 2020 Oregon Tuition Guarantee, which locks in tuition rates at UO for five years, the change will only impact the incoming class of 2025.
As a student member on the Board of Trustees, David Mitrovčan Morgan said the guarantee is unique to UO.
“Just not having to worry, knowing when you get here the rate that you’re going to pay for the next five years, it’s a joy,” Mitrovčan Morgan said.
Cy Abbott, a Ph.D. student and member of the Board of Trustees, said the increase reflects the university’s need to balance financial realities.
“One of the main priorities is keeping the university competitive in a moment where basically every strain that the university is used to facing has kind of been amplified,” Abbott said.
Brian Fox, associate vice president for Budget, Financial Analysis and Data, explained the budget allocation:
“Tuition revenue accounts for approximately 77% of total revenue for the Education and General Fund, and it is critical that revenue keep pace with increasing costs,” Fox said.
The Tuition and Fee Advisory Board originally held multiple open sessions to discuss tuition with students.
“TFAB is a diverse group of students, faculty, administrators and staff from across the university that makes recommendations to the president each year about tuition rates,” Fox said.
Mitrovčan Morgan said the factors that contributed to the increase included a “higher inflationary period.”
Fox also said there were other circumstances that the university weighed.
“These cost-drivers, including increases tied to faculty, staff and Graduate Employee collective bargaining agreements, mandatory benefits like retirement and healthcare as well as hiring of new tenure-track faculty and other institutional expenses are anticipated to go up by 4.1% next year,” Fox said.
Fox also said that 79% of the university’s general fund is tied up in personnel costs, including salaries under union and non-union contracts.
“There’s a certain number of the university’s obligations that are contractually locked in,” Abbott said. “The majority of the university’s general fund goes to paying people salaries.”
According to Abbott, there was “a lot of openness about the (tuition review) process.”
“A lot of other people had put into making the recommendations for the numbers that the board actually ended up voting on,” Abbott said.
According to Fox, measures were taken to ensure scholarships kept pace with rising costs.
“As noted in the board packet, ‘…10% of new revenue from tuition is automatically set aside for remissions (e.g., scholarships) as standard practice. The university has also budgeted additional funds to support the recently increased scholarship levels for incoming cohorts of students,’” Fox said.
While affordability was a concern, Abbott said trustees also considered the broader value of higher education in today’s economic climate.
“There was a lot of reflection on how much of a value higher education is and can be and should be, and how much we as a university are actually making that promise real,” he said.
Ruby Wool, a student member on the Board of Trustees, elaborated on the university’s commitment to its students:
“If we can show students and make them understand that, yes, we know you’ve invested so much of your money and time into coming here, but that’s why we’re going to invest so much back into you,” Wool said.
Wool spoke about her belief that a “reciprocal relationship” exists between UO and the students.
“We know the stress or the hardship it might take to come here, but we’re going to make your investment worth it,” Wool said.
