Every year, students find themselves having to pay just a little bit more for tuition, but what is the breakdown of those higher costs and why do they rise each year? Many incoming students and even continuing students worry about these questions.
Tuition and student fees are established by the Utah State Board of Regents. The Board of Regents is comprised of 19 Utah residents with 15 of those being appointed by the governor with Senate consent.
“State taxpayers cover 52 percent of the cost of college in Utah today, compared to 75 percent in 1999, with the rest covered by tuition students through tuition,” said Utah’s Commissioner of Higher Education, William A. Sederburg.
Utah’s higher education schools have a budget and tuition offsets the legislative appropriation.
States have had to slash higher education spending from concerns about other school budgets. Thus, having an overall effect on the rise of tuition.
“That is something the Board of Regents and our Presidents have also been very concerned about, which is why they have worked hard to minimize tuition increases even as state budgets have been cut,” Sederburg said. “Fortunately for Utahans, four-year colleges particularly are much more affordable in Utah than they are nationally, with the average tuition in Utah 62% percent of the national average.”
On the UVU website, there are timetables for each school year. According to these tables, a full time student last Fall paid $2,144 in tuition, while this upcoming fall, tuition will rise to $2,292, which is an increase of $148 in a year.
Last Fall, of the $2,144, $308 of that was for various fees with $1,836 left for tuition. This year, the $2,292 has $320 dollars appropriated to fees and $1,972 for tuition.
So far, tuition has remained relatively inexpensive with small increases. However, it is possible it could continue to rise. There are always additional costs with college, such as books, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet expenditures.
Utah legislators have worked hard to keep Utah under the national tuition average. With their efforts, Utah schools will remain to have their affordability as well as other perks.
