More state support for financial aid would help keep universities affordable, UA administrators and regents say, but some legislators warn the money isn't likely to come soon.
Still, lobbying lawmakers to increase the amount of financial aid coming directly from taxpayers plays a prominent role in a preliminary proposal asking the Legislature to reconsider how it funds universities.
In the draft regents will discuss this week, the universities call for an increased taxpayer contribution to a fund that generates about $1 million per year in aid for UA students.
The proposal also asks lawmakers to reward the UA for meeting performance incentives and offer funding that more accurately reflects the challenges faced by each university.
Regents and university presidents will discuss the plan when they meet at the UA later this week, though they've already offered support to its general goals.
"It's not becoming simpler to educate people in the 21st century. It's becoming more difficult," Arizona State University President Michael Crow said in January, when the board last discussed these plans.
The financial aid fund also contributes to ASU and Northern Arizona University students. It is the sole source of state-based financial aid for Arizona students. Other financial aid money comes directly from the universities or private donors.
The $1 million in grants that UA students receive makes up about 3 percent of the total grant money given annually, said John Nametz, director of financial aid.
About 1,000 UA students receive about $1,000 every year from that fund, though not all students receive exactly the same amount.
About $30 million sits in the state trust fund used to pay for financial aid, but only the interest earned annually actually covers financial aid. The universities contribute 1 percent of resident-rate tuition income to that fund each year, and the state matches that amount using taxpayer money.
Arizona is one of 13 states that make no or very small contributions to student financial aid.
The proposal before the regents suggests doubling the universities' contribution and asking the state to contribute four or six times its current amount.
But with the state still struggling with budget shortfalls, that isn't likely to happen soon, said Sen. Jim Waring, the Republican vice-chairman of the Appropriations Committee.
"I don't know that we'll be able to do a whole lot," he said. "If the universities feel that is a priority, they need to include that in their budget package and ask for something less."
Waring and Democratic Sen. Gabrielle Giffords agreed, however, that the state might be able to fund financial aid when revenues improve and the state isn't trying to reconcile budget shortfalls.
"Absolutely, I believe it's the state's obligation, and in fact the state's constitution requires us to make our universities' education as affordable as possible," said Giffords, an Appropriations Committee member. She warned, however, that the aid money wouldn't come until the state has more money.
State Rep. Ted Downing, a Democrat who is also a UA professor, said the Legislature could pay for financial aid sooner if students and parents lobby lawmakers to make it a priority.
"Don't leave the regents to do it by themselves," Downing said, adding that if the Legislature would eliminate tax credits and loopholes for corporations, it would be able to pay for more financial aid. Since last year's $1,000 tuition hike, the universities have set aside much larger sums for financial aid and succeeded in keeping Pell Grant recipients, the neediest students, from having to pay for the increase. That will happen again for the next tuition increase, but officials say more state aid is needed to assist students who don't qualify for Pell Grants but still have trouble paying tuition.
"(State aid) could be a very important source," said Edith Auslander, President Peter Likins' senior associate. "That's a very strong interest of (Likins')."
Asking for more state financial aid is one aspect of a broader proposal that asks legislators to reevaluate what universities consider outdated methods for funding universities.
Now, the Legislature often follows a complicated formula that roughly pays for one new faculty member when the student population increases by 22 students.
But that formula doesn't reflect the fact that upper-division and graduate courses, as well as those in some academic disciplines, cost much more to run than lower-division courses, administrators say. As a result, the universities may ask the Legislature to account for different majors and class standing.
"At the University of Arizona, it is much more expensive to educate upper-division students and graduate students than lower-division students," Likins said at the last regents' meeting.
Likins also wants the UA to receive money for meeting performance incentives like increasing graduation rates and more regular contributions from the Legislature for construction and building maintenance.
Regents hope to finalize a lobbying plan by June, then work with legislators and Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano to put their proposals into action.
Regents will meet in the Student Union Memorial Center Thursday and Friday, a meeting where they will also set next year's tuition. The funding proposal is set to be discussed at 9:45 a.m. Friday.