Students likely won't see benefits next year if regents approve a proposed $1,000 tuition increase, but the university would face a dire financial situation without the hike.

Resident Undergraduate Non-resident Undergraduate Resident Graduate Non-resident Graduate College of Medicine

Full-time Fall 2002 $2,508 $11,028 $2,508 $11,028 $10,649

Tuition Increase $1,000 $1,250 $1,250 $1,500 $909

Full-time Fall 2003 $3,508 $12,278 $3,758 $12,528 $11,483

So said President Pete Likins yesterday afternoon, shortly after formally proposing tuition hikes of $1,000 for in-state undergraduates, $1,250 for out-of-state undergraduates and in-state graduate students, and $1,500 for out-of-state graduate students.

Resident undergraduate tuition would rise to $3,508 and resident graduate tuition to $3,758. Non-resident undergraduate tuition would increase to $12,278 and non-resident graduate tuition to $12,528.

If regents approve the increase, Arizona's in-state undergraduate tuition would rise from the lowest in the country to approximately the 35th highest, precisely the location regents have called ideal.

Likins had been expected to propose those increases, and had drawn the support of many students for whom two years' worth of budget cuts have finally hit home in the form of canceled and overcrowded classes.

"I believe that the tuition hike overall will be good," said business management junior Ryan Holmgren. "As long as it's spent accordingly and put to use responsibly, then that's fine. We pay for a good education here and that's what we're going to get."

Student body president Doug Hartz agreed with Likins, that even a $1,000 tuition hike would have little immediate impact on students' lives. But he warned that without a large increase, the university could be headed toward a fiscal disaster that would take decades to repair.

"We have an opportunity to start to stop a downward slide," Hartz said.

Under Likins' proposal, the UA would stand to make $34.5 million more. But $20.6 million of that would be used for financial aid, leaving $13.9 million to put toward expenses like faculty salaries, Likins said.

That's $4 million less than the budget cut the UA suffered at the legislature's hands in November, and not nearly enough to solve the university's financial woes.

"We can't pretend this is somehow going to solve the problem," Likins said.

Rather, Hartz said, it will be the first step toward reversing a trend of legislative budget cuts that has cost the UA tens of millions of dollars in the last two years.

Speaking yesterday to the Faculty Senate, Provost George Davis explained that the UA's total allocation from the state has decreased from $347 million to $316 million in the last two years.

It could drop another $16 million before July if Republicans in the Arizona state legislature get their way with a plan to further slice the university's budget to balance an ever-dwindling state deficit.

"If the budget offered by the chairs of the appropriation committees were adopted, it'd be catastrophic for the universities," Likins said.

Though the $14 million isn't enough to solve any long-term budget problems, Likins says diverting nearly $21 million to financial aid is necessary to keep a UA education accessible for qualified students.

He has always called financial aid his top priority if tuition is to be raised, and yesterday said that in-state Pell Grant recipients and graduate teaching assistants will be unharmed under his proposal.

"More than 5,000 of our neediest Arizona resident undergraduates and all of our graduate teaching assistants would be unharmed by this tuition increase, and for many others the increase would be mitigated as well," he said.

Hartz isn't convinced the financial aid money is being directed toward the right people. The average in-state student graduates with $1,000 more in debt than the average out-of-state student.

"That disparity needs to be corrected," Hartz said.

Hartz and fellow student lobbyists had expected to announce yesterday their own tuition and financial aid proposals, but decided to wait until officials provide them with more data on who will be affected by financial aid decisions.

They will call for a specific increase sometime soon, Hartz said. That announcement will include suggestions for allocating financial aid in a way that he hopes will maximize in-state students' abilities to pay for their education.

Among graduate students, the debate over tuition increases is centering on graduate teaching assistants. Likins says his proposal will hold them unharmed from a tuition increase, but graduate student leaders aren't convinced he can deliver on that promise.

Especially now that Likins and Provost George Davis have recommended the Graduate College dean's position be eliminated; some graduate students wonder who has the experience to do the job.

"We're concerned about whether they can actually do it," said Jani Radebaugh, a representative on the Graduate and Professional Student Council.

It appears, though, that the proposal will have little trouble passing the Board of Regents in March. Six votes constitute a majority on the board, and more than six regents have voiced support for a $1,000 increase.

ASU President Michael Crow and NAU President John Haeger joined Likins yesterday in calling for large tuition increases, though their proposals differed slightly in the increases for graduate and out-of-state tuition.

"The last two years of state budget cuts demonstrate that we can no longer simply rely on state funding to maintain our ability to offer quality academic programs and needed student services," Haeger said.

That statement reflects the mantra the university presidents have been repeating for months ÷ Arizona's higher education system will be decimated unless the universities can become less reliant on the legislature.

Today students can discuss their concerns with Likins and Davis at a Campus Town Hall from noon ÷ 1:30 p.m. in the DuVal Auditorium at the Arizona Health Sciences Center.

Tomorrow night, students can discuss their tuition concerns with Board of Regents' President Jack Jewett and student regent Matthew Meaker from 6 ÷ 8 p.m. in Modern Languages building, room 350.

Aaron Mackey and Keren G. Raz contributed to this report.