The governing body of the UT System mandated a 4.95-percent ceiling on tuition increases for all 15 system institutions at its December meeting, inciting discussion among University administrators of how to deal with the tuition revenue shortfall expected from the cap.
Under the regents' mandate, nine of the institutions - including UT - that were set to submit final proposals on tuition increases can raise tuition by no more than 4.95 percent or $150 a semester - whichever is higher.
The mandate came nearly one month after UT's Tuition Policy Advisory Committee announced a proposal for a more than $300 per semester increase for the next two academic years.
The regents also said that 20 percent of the funds from tuition revenue should be set aside for scholarship programs.
"The Board's decision to place a limit on undergraduate resident tuition and fee increases - in addition to using other resources in combination with ongoing system-wide cost efficiency initiatives - will allow sufficient resources to meet the strategic needs as identified by the campus," said UT System spokesman Anthony de Bruyn in an e-mail.
University President William Powers said he disagrees.
Powers has said since the beginning of the semester that tuition increases are inevitable due to the lack of funding received during the last legislative session. He said funds under the mandate will not be enough to fund strategic goals, including increasing faculty salaries and funding student support services.
While expressing disappointment about the mandate, Powers lauded the committee's job in narrowing down the proposal to support what he said are only the assets that are most important in maintaining the University's competitiveness at a national level.
"I'm disappointed by the regents' vote," Powers said. "We will continue to work with TPAC on identifying even in this group of high priority and critical needs what we're going to focus on going forward. It is absolutely critical that we continue to work on competitiveness to attract the very best faculty and faculty salaries will be a top priority. Beyond that, we're going to have to very carefully go through the TPAC report to sort through what we'll do with these limitations."
Powers declined to speculate as to why the regents would place a cap on tuition system wide when UT-Austin is aiming for increased funding.
Senate of College Councils Chair Stephen Myers, who served as one of four student voices on the tuition committee, sent a letter addressed to UT System Chairman Scott Caven to the nine regents, governor and Texas legislature, urging the board to reconsider its mandate. Myers points out in the letter that the originally proposed increase amounts to only a 4.7 percent increase in the core academic budget - a percentage lower than the Higher Education Price Index, which measures inflation for higher education institutions.
"If UT Austin is forced to comply with the 4.95 percent tuition increase cap, the University will not be financially capable of maintaining the standards of excellence that our students and the citizens of Texas have come to expect," Myers said in the letter.
All nine system institutions that were set to submit their proposal are expected to do so to UT System Chancellor Mark Yudof in alignment with the mandate by the end of the year, de Bruyn said.
The regents, who authorize tuition and fee changes for all system schools, are set to discuss and take possible action on all submitted proposals in March 2008.
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