How UVU Tuition Will Change

Graphic by Trevor Robertson

Last month, the Utah State Board of Regents gathered at Dixie State University to discuss and set tuition rates for the upcoming year for the eight public colleges and universities that make up The Utah System of Higher Education.

The decisions made at the Utah State Board of Regents recent meeting have led to the smallest statewide tuition increase in over a decade.

The universities and colleges that make up USHE will see a 4 percent increase in tuition this following year, while a few colleges in the USHE will receive an additional second-tier—which are school-specific tuition expenses—tuition increase ranging from 1.5-2 percent.

USHE consists of the University of Utah, Utah State University, Utah Valley University, Weber State University, Southern Utah University, Snow College, Dixie State University, and Salt Lake Community College.

The 4 percent increase in tuition that UVU will be receiving for the upcoming 2014-2015 school year will bring additional costs to students.

Undergraduate resident students taking 15 credit hours will see tuition for the semester increase from $2,184 to $2,271.  The 4 percent cost added to tuition will be $87.

Nonresidential undergraduate students enrolled in 15 credit hours will see a $268 increase in tuition, moving their tuition costs for a semester to $7,037 from the previous $6,769.

UVU will be one of the schools in the USHE that will not see any school-specific second-tier tuition increases.

The University of Utah, Utah State University and Snow College will be seeing second-tier expenses go up.

With UVU staying away from any second-tier tuition increases, UVU is making good on a desire to not raise second-tier expenses if at all possible.

In February during the annual Truth in Tuition hearing, President Holland mentioned it would be ‘ill-advised’ for the university to raise second-tier tuition costs if given an increase in state funding.

Changes to graduate students are expected as well.  During UVU’s Board of Trustees meeting on March 27, a “base” graduate tuition scale was proposed.

This “base” tuition scale will be similar to other USHE institutions.  The proposed scale will apply to the M.Ed. program and any future programs for Master Degrees.

After reviewing the tuition expenses of the Master of Science in Nursing programs among the institutions in the USHE, the proposed “base” tuition scale will eliminate the differential tuition of UVU’s MSN program.  This means students in UVU’s MSN program will now be charged UVU’s base graduate tuition and fees.

At the Board of Trustees March 27 meeting, changes to UVU’s MBA program tuition fees were also proposed.

Beginning in Fall 2013, an international experience requirement for newly enrolled MBA students was added to the MBA program.

The international experience has not been a requirement for MBA students who have been a part of the program before this new requirement was put into effect.

For the newly enrolled MBA students of the 2013-14 school year a course fee was implemented to accommodate for this international experience requirement.  A $4000 cost increase per student came to the university for this requirement.

Beginning in Fall 2014, completing an international experience will be a requirement for all MBA students.  To facilitate the growing needs of the MBA program, the Board of Trustees has proposed increasing the MBA graduate scale by $111 per credit per semester this fall.

It is projected that this increase in tuition will bring in $320,000 of annual revenue.

According to the minutes of the Board of Trustees meeting, this money will go exclusively to support the participation and coordination involved with the international experience for the MBA students.