UTPA, UTB tuition increases confirmed

CORRECTION: This is a corrected version of the story. An earlier version incorrectly stated the tuition and fee increase for undergrads at UTPA and UTB/TSC next year and in the following year.

AUSTIN — Students attending the Rio Grande Valley’s two public universities will be paying more for their education over the next two years.

The University of Texas Board of Regents approved tuition and fee increases for its nine academic institutions for the next two years and six health institutions for the next academic year during a special called meeting Wednesday. But the board agreed to review tuition and fee costs for the 2011-2012 school year should the Texas Legislature make changes in its appropriations to higher education when it convenes next year.

For students at the University of Texas-Pan American and the University of Texas-Brownsville/Texas Southmost College, that means undergraduates will be paying about $140 more per semester in tuition and fees next year and the following year, which translates to about a 5 percent increase. Costs for graduate students are slightly more.

Despite the increases, tuition and fees at the two Valley universities remain the lowest in the UT System and among the lowest at state institutions of higher learning, according to figures presented at the meeting.

Presidents of each of the UT System’s academic institutions, accompanied by staff and student representatives, presented their proposals, which included cost-saving measures they have undertaken and what cost increases they planned to implement.

Earlier in the Board of Regents meeting, UT System Chancellor Dr. Francisco Cigarroa updated members on the 5 percent expenditure cuts the institutions made. Totaling more than $175 million, the reductions were made in response to Gov. Rick Perry’s request earlier this year that all state agencies cut spending by 5 percent.

Most of the students who attend the Valley institutions qualify for federal, need-based Pell grants and other financial assistance, and their families cannot afford to contribute anything toward their education, said the presidents of those universities.

And though both UTPA and UTB/TSC are seeing steady growth in enrollment, they cannot depend solely on that to increase their revenues.

Both institutions formed committees composed of students, staff, faculty and administrators last year to determine what tuition and fee increases should be implemented. Those committees presented their proposals to students last fall.

The planned increases initially received mixed responses from students, who understood that more money was needed to move their campuses forward but were concerned about how much the higher costs would burden them.

“At the end of the day I realized a growing university needs funding,” said Ruby De La Fuente, president of UTB/TSC’s Student Government Association.

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Jennifer L. Berghom covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4462.

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>> Undergraduates at UTPA currently pay on average $2,764.03 per semester, assuming they are taking at least 14 credit hours. Next year, students are expected to pay $2,904.01 per semester. And for the 2011-2012 academic year, they are expected to pay $3,043.96.

>> Currently, students attending UTB/TSC pay on average $2,808.56 per semester. For the 2010-2011 school year, they will pay $2,946.56, and for the following academic year, they are expected to pay $3,086.46 per semester, assuming they take at least 15 credit hours. Both institutions set tuition caps for students who take a minimum number of credit hours: 14 hours at UTPA, 15 hours at UTB.