University of Central Arkansas officials released a proposal Tuesday that would increase tuition and mandatory fees for next school year by nearly 4 percent.
The proposal will be voted on by the university’s board of trustees at a meeting Friday in Conway.
If it passes, the cost of tuition and mandatory fees for an undergraduate student taking 30 credit hours over two semesters will rise from $7,595 to $7,889, a 3.86 percent increase, for the 2014-2015 school year.
Bryce Crabb, vice president of operations for the UCA Student Government Association, said he and his fellow student leaders support the increase.
“We believe that it’s a necessary thing, that it’s going to provide a lot more things for students and allow UCA to be a better university,” said Crabb, a senior economics major. “We’re very excited about what the increases may produce.”
The proposed increase will provide money for a planned overall 2 percent raise for faculty and staff members.
“The tuition increase is to cover cost-of-living increases for faculty and staff, primarily to retain faculty,” said UCA President Tom Courtway.
An additional pool of $250,000 would be set aside for merit raises for faculty members, Courtway said.
The increase in fees includes a $3.50 per-credit-hour rise in the facility fee that was approved by trustees in February.
The fee will go toward the expansion and renovation of the university’s Lewis Science Center. The project, which will add 50,000 square feet, is expected to cost about $17.5 million.
Courtway said the increase in tuition will go toward the addition of 10 academic advisers for next school year, among other things.
“That’s not coming all out of tuition increase, but it’s all part of the university’s budget,” Courtway said.
Trustees will vote on the university’s operating budget for the 2015 fiscal year at Friday’s meeting. The operating budget would be $173.8 million, a 3.55 percent increase.
Zach Carter, UCA Student Government Association executive vice president, said he doesn’t think the increase will affect attendance at the university, which had 11,534 students in the fall 2013 semester.
“It will still be very affordable,” he said.
Carter said he looks forward to seeing how UCA grows in the next few years with the increased funding.
Several public universities in the state have raised their rates for next school year.
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville will increase tuition and fees by 5 percent, from $7,818 to $8,209, for a student taking 30 undergraduate credit hours over two semesters in the 2014-15 academic year.
Tuition and mandatory fees at ASU-Jonesboro will rise 2.8 percent for students taking 30 undergraduate credit hours, from $7,510 to $7,720 in the 2014-15 school year. At Arkansas Tech, undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees for 30 credit hours during the 2014-15 academic year will be $7,248 — a 4.77 percent increase.
The boards of two others — Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia and Henderson State University in Arkadelphia — are scheduled to meet Thursday. New rates for those schools have not been released.
Metro on 05/28/2014