UTA students’ tuition to increase after UT System approves 2.6% hike
The University of Texas System Board of Regents approved a tuition increase of 2.6% for its campuses Thursday, meaning students at the University of Texas at Arlington can expect to pay hundreds more in 2020 and 2021.
For the 2019-2020 academic year, the average cost of in-state tuition and fees for undergraduate students is approximately $11,040. The 2.6% would amount to an increase of roughly $287 each year. And for out-of-state and graduate students, that amount would be even higher.
In addition, depending on a student’s major, tuition rates could also vary because of UTA’s differential tuition program, which charges an additional fee per credit hour each semester in the College of Engineering and College of Nursing & Health Innovation, UTA spokesman Joe Carpenter wrote in an email.
For undergraduate students in both colleges, the fee will increase by $3 per credit hour. For graduate students in both colleges, the fee will increase by $5 per credit hour, Carpenter said Friday.
By Fall 2021, College of Engineering undergraduates would pay a $25 fee per credit hour and graduate students would pay a $41 fee per credit hour. In the College of Nursing & Health Innovation, undergraduates would pay a $28 fee per credit hour, while graduate students would pay a $106 fee per credit hour.
In addition, the undergrad resident and non-resident guaranteed rate plan will increase by 7%.
“The University of Texas at Arlington is committed to providing our students the highest quality education, ensuring access and excellence at an affordable cost,” UTA President Vistasp Karbhari said in a statement Friday. “These increases will provide strategic and important investments in support of the success of students at UTA, recruiting and retaining the best faculty and staff possible in support of our mission, and enhancing technology and infrastructure consistent with the needs of the campus.”
Karbhari also thanked the students, faculty, staff, alumni and parents of students on the UTA Tuition Review Committee who gave recommendations on where UTA should prioritize funds generated from the increases.
The two-year increase comes on the heels of prior hikes for the UT System’s eight schools in 2018, where UTA students saw increases ranging from 5% to 10%. The estimated net revenue of over $11.5 million generated annually from the 2018 hikes at UTA was to help support improvements such as reducing wait times for counseling services, faculty recruitment and maintaining student union facilities, according to a March 2018 plan.
“It’s a balancing act. It’s never easy,” Board Chairman Kevin Eltife said at Thursday’s meeting in Austin. “We know that $20 a month more to anybody — to some of these families — is a lot of money. We know that. I mean I know it firsthand, I was raised on Social Security and veterans benefits. That’s how I put myself through school. So I don’t take lightly any increase.”
UT System Chancellor James Milliken stressed that the hike is necessary to keep up with the rate of inflation.
Eltife said the increase would not affect low-income students who receive free tuition under financial aid plans, like the one UT Austin announced in July for in-state undergraduate students from families earning $65,000 or less annually.
Student regent Daniel Dominguez spoke out against the increased costs, and urged students to reach out to their school’s financial aid office to find avenues for assistance.
“I very much understand the needs of the schools,” said Dominguez, a doctoral student at the University of Texas at El Paso. “But let’s not forget the point of the view of the student. That’s what I’m doing here. A lot of students are already struggling to pay for their education.”
“I’m sorry, but I cannot support the increase that the chancellor is proposing at this point.”
As of Thursday afternoon, it was unclear if UTA had informed students of the upcoming tuition hikes.
Meanwhile, UT Austin posted an FAQ for students on its website shortly after the board’s decision, explaining that primarily undergraduate students would be affected on its campus.
Janiece Longoria, vice chairman of the board, stressed that UT System schools are still “a great bargain” compared to other Texas schools.
But students affected by the hike didn’t see it that way, with some UT Austin students taking to Twitter to share their frustrations with the rising costs.
“UT has me messed up with this tuition increase plus a separate increase for being apart of Engineering,“ wrote Thinh Pham, a student in the School of Engineering.
“When you haven’t paid the tuition bill yet & fenves sent another email about tuition increase chill bro,” freshman Hannah Hoang wrote, referring to UT Austin President Greg Fenves.
According to the College Board’s 2019 report detailing trends in college pricing nationwide, the average tuition and fees for Texas residents at public four-year institutions in 2019-20 was around the U.S. average.
This story was originally published November 14, 2019 at 5:24 PM.
