Board of Regents raises tuition for seventh consecutive year

The increases raised University of Arizona yearly resident tuition to $2,298 and out-of-state tuition to $9,410, and represented the seventh rate bump since 1993. The regents and the three state university presidents said they would investigate ways over the next few months to phase increases into incoming college students' tuition bills.

"We began to explore the feasibility of having different tuition for incoming freshmen than for continuing students," UA President Peter Likins said yesterday.

The Arizona university system switched to a two-year budget this fall and has not yet determined when tuition should be discussed for the second year, although the regents expect to address it in April.

Prior to that, the regents will have two study sessions on the long-term financial needs of the schools and the role tuition and financial aid will play in the future.

"We want to look at the long term," said board President Judy Gignac. "That includes the financial viability of the institutions and the protection of current students during the period of the increases."

One option under consideration for in-state tuition is a staged-growth period, Likins said.

Each freshmen class over a fixed time period would start with a tuition rate higher than the previous year's. All students would be given a flat rate by which their tuition would increase each year. Current students' bills would increase each year by that same amount.

Likins said the system allows students to know their yearly tuition before beginning at the UA, and after eight-10 years, all students would be at the same rate.

The system may not be technologically feasible because the university's computer system would have to be able to handle multiple tuition rates, Likins said, but it will still be explored.

"We are trying to meet our financial needs without putting undue stress on our continuing students," Likins said.

Regent Jack Jewett said the system described by Likins could have bookkeeping problems, but would settle some concerns.

"There is certainly an interest in students knowing their tuition over four years," Jewett said. "I would endorse such a system."

Gignac said she anticipated there would be more than the one plan studied before the regents make a decision on the tuition rate for Fall 2000.

"It is a big table and has room for plenty of ideas," she said. "We need to find how we can build these institutions and keep the quality and accessibility up."

Jewett said regardless of the tuition system the board chooses to implement, there are issues it needs to address during its upcoming meetings.

"What does 'as nearly free as possible' mean?" Jewett asked, referring to the state constitution that describes the level at which university tuition should be set. "If we have a plan that raises tuition at a yearly 5 percent increase, we are getting away from the mandate."

Anthony C. Braza can be reached via e-mail at Anthony.C.Braza@wildcat.arizona.edu.