On Aug. 14, President Bush signed into law the College Opportunity and Affordability Act to establish an online database to allow students to compare university tuition rates and increases by July 1, 2011.
"[This database] would be a good way to compare schools," said physics senior Dillon Kuehner. "Schools might start to compete and lower tuitions as a way to attract new students."
Schools with the highest tuition increases within a three-year period will be listed on the National Center for Education Statistics' College Navigator Web site.
Texas public universities have raised prices by an average of 58 percent in the past six years, and UT raised its undergraduate resident tuition 5 percent from last year.
"My brother used to go here, and the tuition has increased significantly since he was a student here," said business junior Ankita Mehta. "It's difficult to balance other things like housing and food, especially when you live off campus."
Education deregulation laws passed in 2003 took tuition-setting authority from the Texas Legislature and gave it to the universities, causing rates to spike. Some students said they feel some regulation may be necessary.
"There should be more supervision, regulation and management of the amount a school can charge," Kuehner said. "The school should have limits on the amount it can increase tuition within a period of time."
Some students say tuition increases often create extra burdens for families.
"My family and I have had to cut back in other areas in order to save up more," Kuehner said. "Some of the money my parents planned to put toward [my younger brother's] education they've had to take out for mine."
Within a dynamic economy, tuition has to keep up with the prices of other goods and services.
"The cost of business goes up annually, in large part due to inflation," said UT Chief Financial Officer Kevin Hegarty in an e-mail. "Cost increases are principally driven by merit salary increases (3 percent this year) and cost in providing employee benefits such as health care and utility costs."
State funding and student aid has also increased along with tuition, and students from families with an income of under $40,000 a year do not pay the same inflated rates as other students.
"State financial aid and aid to students has increased substantially with every tuition increase, because the institution is required by law to set aside a minimum of 20 percent of every increase to use as additional need-based grant aid to students," Hegarty said. "Historically, we have set aside more than 20 percent."
Tuition increases allow institutions to pay professors and staff higher salaries, fund college-specific academic initiatives and upgrade facilities.
"I'm in the business school, and the facilities are very nice, but we pay a lot for them," Mehta said. "Although the tuition has increased, I don't think it hinders what UT has to offer. Its academic standards are very high."
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