Tech panel votes to hold line on tuition
Star-Telegram staff writer
Texas Tech students and their parents likely won't have to raid the piggy bank for additional pennies -- at least for the coming year.
A Texas Tech University regents committee voted Thursday to maintain current undergraduate and graduate costs for the 2008-09 academic year. The full board is expected to vote today.
"We've drawn a line in the sand this year and hope that it makes a difference," Chancellor Kent Hance said in a statement. "Texas Tech is trying to give more deserving high school students the opportunity to attend a high-quality university."
Undergraduate resident tuition at Texas Tech will remain $4,310 for 30 credit hours. With student fees, the cost is $7,083. Regents are also expected to keep student fees, room and board, and parking fees unchanged. A $30 energy fee increase will be offset by a $30 library fee cut.
Hance said in a telephone interview that the cost of attending Tech is now about $18,000 per year, taking account of books, transportation and other expenses.
State lawmakers voted in 2003 to allow universities to set their own tuition. Students and parents have increasingly been called on to make up the difference as state funding has not kept pace with increasing enrollment.
This spring, a number of Texas universities have announced higher tuition. In 2004, it cost about $5,300 a year for tuition and fees at the University of Texas at Arlington. This fall, it will cost about $8,142.
Hance said cost-cutting measures will include turning campus thermostats up to about 78 degrees this summer. The move is designed to make the school affordable for Tech's "bread and butter" constituency, students whose families make $50,000 to $100,000 per year, he said. Those families make too much money to qualify for a lot of state and federal aid.
"The board believes to support the chancellor's vision to grow the size and quality of our student body we must keep tuition affordable for students from middle-income families who have traditionally been the backbone of this university," regent Chairman Scott Dueser said.
This report includes material from Star-Telegram archives.
HIGHER EDUCATION SPENDING
State funding of higher education since 2004.
| Biennium | 2004-2005 | 2006-2007 | 2008-2009 |
| Amount allocated | $15.2 billion | $16.9 billion | $21.18 billion |
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