The Tennessee Board of Regents will consider a tuition hike for system universities, community colleges and technology centers at its quarterly meeting in Memphis next month.
Tennessee State University is proposing to raise mandatory and maintenance fees — the TBR’s equivalent of tuition — by 5.6 percent. Overall, it could cost a student that enrolls for 15 hours of class an extra $662 per year. TSU’s proposed tuition increase was the third lowest among TBR universities.
Middle Tennessee State University could see a 6.8 percent, or $852, increase in fees.
This is only the second year that universities have had the option of making “institutional requests” in addition to the state-mandated fee increases. TSU proposed a 1.3 percent increase to raise $295,300 for the school’s Center for Learning and Student Success. The center helps with tutoring and provides financial assistance for students.
MTSU added a 2.6 percent request to supply the school with $3.9 million to convert 61 full-time temporary faculty to permanent, tenure track positions.
Community colleges across the state would also see a price increase of roughly $300 per year based on 15 hours of coursework per semester.
The TBR’s Committee on Finance and Business Operations recommended the fee increases to the full board at a meeting Tuesday afternoon.
TBR Chancellor John Morgan called the proposed increases an “unfortunate but expected continued shift of funding from the state to our students.” State appropriations for operating funds dipped by $12.1 million last year.
“Unfortunately, as our state support continues to erode, enrollment continues to climb, and the money we must spend to operate continues to rise, these price increases will not cover all of our funding needs,” Morgan said.