Students will see their tuition increase spring term after the Oregon State Board of Higher Education approved an emergency surcharge for the University on Friday.
University administrators had announced the surcharge Feb. 27but the actual cost will be higher than predicted. Oregon residents taking eight or more credits will pay $150, as originally proposed, but non-residents will pay $350. Last week, Vice President for Finance and Administration Frances Dyke said non-residents would likely be charged $300.
Residents and non-residents taking fewer than eight credits spring term will pay $75 and $175, respectively.
The increase will help to make up some of the most recent budget reductions that have come from the state legislature, which amount to $6.9 million. The tuition surcharge will only account for $2.1 million.
The University told the board that 30 percent of the money from the tuition increase will go toward financial aid.
Students receiving Oregon Opportunity Grants, Oregon challenge grants and PathwayOregon grants will be exempt from the increase.
Oregon Student Association Executive Director Tamara Henderson said OSA, which lobbies on behalf of students, remained neutral on the issue, but sees the need for a surcharge as a symptom of the current economic situation.
Henderson said that without the tuition surcharge the University will not meet its required bottom line regarding its state funding.
“While this is a campus issue in which OSA has not taken a position, it is a clear signal of the dire situation we are facing,” she said in a prepared statement.
ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz, who testified before the board in favor of the increase, said board members weren’t excited about implementing the change but understood the necessity.
In addition to Dotters-Katz, University President Dave Frohnmayer and Dyke spoke before the board to convey the need for the tuition increase.
“The University has fought long and hard to give more Oregonians access, while at the same time improving the quality of the educational experience. I do not believe it to be a false hope that, even in these dark times, we can continue our progress on both fronts,” Dotters-Katz said in his presentation. “Yet if we are not granted this tuition surcharge, in my opinion, that will be impossible.”
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Board of Higher Education raises spring term tuition
Daily Emerald
March 7, 2009
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