Likins' proposed $490 increase to meet vote

Regents will decide today whether to approve President Peter Likins' proposed $490 resident tuition increase, which would bring next year's in-state undergraduate tuition to $3,998.

If the Arizona Board of Regents agrees to that amount, which is coupled with a proposed $700 increase for nonresidents, it would be the second-largest increase in UA history, trailing last year's $1,000 hike.

Regents will also consider an alternative proposed by student lobbyists, which calls for a $400 increase for residents. The lobbyists proposed a $700 increase for nonresidents as well.

In previous years, regents have approved increases that don't match either the president's or the lobbyists' proposal. Two years ago, they raised tuition by $97 when Likins had asked for $300 and students had asked for no increase.

Regardless of the increase approved today, at least 14 percent of the tuition revenue will be set aside to offer financial aid to needy students. Likins has promised that no Pell Grant recipients will have to pay more than they do now.

"We can and we will one more time protect entirely · resident Pell Grant recipients," Likins said at a public hearing on tuition last month. "It is frankly a lot more difficult this year than last."

Next year will be the last time Pell Grant recipients, who are the university's neediest students, are completely protected from the increase.

Likins' proposed increase would bring in about $15 million, before financial aid is

factored in. He hasn't said what that money would be used for, but revenue from last year's increase covered costs like faculty salaries and class availability.

The student plan would bring in a little under $12 million, before financial aid is set aside.

Likins has long said he wants UA tuition to keep pace with the 33rd percentile nationwide, which would require market-based hikes each year.

Originally, he had said he would advocate a $500 increase this year, which would have lifted the UA to that level. But he backed off slightly because a $490 increase would keep resident undergraduate tuition below $4,000.

The lobbyists decided on a $400 proposal after projecting the location of the 33rd percentile in a year, then splitting the difference between that level and current tuition.

They proposed that plan to bring stability into the tuition-setting process, saying students should be able to predict how much they'll pay.

"They know what they'll need the next year. They know what they'll need the year after that," said student lobbyist Nick Green.

Stability had been a cornerstone of student body president-elect Alistair Chapman's campaign, and Chapman, a current student lobbyist, has said he will back an approximately $400 increase next year.

Both Likins and the lobbyists have similar explanations for their proposed nonresident increases. They say it's important to keep

out-of-state tuition competitive with in-state rates in other parts of the country.

At the same time, though, nonresident tuition revenue makes up about 60 percent of the university's total tuition income, so a smaller increase might choke a key source of funding, they say.

Student opposition to a tuition hike has been minimal this year, with one of the university's most outspoken activists saying she hasn't been able to marshal support for protests.

"I hate to say it, but I feel like a big failure on this one," said Rachel Wilson, a law student who was a plaintiff in a recently dismissed lawsuit that claimed last year's tuition hike was unconstitutional.

And at a statewide tuition hearing last month, some students said they'd support an increase as long as it came with more financial aid, including tuition waivers for graduate students.

"You must be willing to support those efforts in a financially bold manner," said Jani Radebaugh, president of the Graduate and Professional Student Council.

This year is also the first time the UA, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University presidents have proposed different increases for their respective universities. ASU President Michael Crow is asking for a $335 resident undergraduate increase and NAU President John Haeger has asked for a $475 increase.

The regents meet today at 1 p.m. in the Catalina Room of the Student Union Memorial Center.