Texas Tech's Board of Regents to decide the cost of higher education at the university in May
The Texas Tech University System Board of Regents met March 29 to look into the possibility of another increase in tuition and fees.
This item, along with others, was brought up during the special session in order to set a maximum “ceiling" on tuition and fees before students began registering for classes on April 8.
Ben Lock, the executive assistant to the Board of Regents, said the Board had to decide on the issue before students were registered based on a state law.
“The law states that a college that sets its tuition rates and fees for a semester and permits a student to register for that semester may not increase the tuition rate or fees,” Lock said, “regardless of whether that student has actually paid the tuition and fees.”
Trying to resist nationwide tides, Tech's governing board decided to set the maximum tuition and fee increase at 4.4 percent for the next academic year.
“Tuition and fees encompasses a wide range of categories,” Lock said. “It includes such things as a student services fee, student union fee, medical services fee, recreation fee, athletics fee, transportation fee, cultural activities fee, library fee, etc.
The continuous increases in tuition and fees have some people concerned that the reliance on bumping up tuition will eventually drive students away from higher education.
Windy Sitton, a board member, said she hopes the higher rates will not discourage students from seeking a college degree.
"We know that there is a limit to what a lot of parents and students can pay for higher education," said Sitton, "and I don't want to be in the business of making it impossible for students to get a degree."
In an earlier interview, Chancellor Kent Hance said the initial ceiling on possible tuition increases does not specifically mean that it will go up.
"The 4.4 percent cap is a maximum, but we have not set a final number," said Hance. "We can tell it is not going to go above that. It is below anything our competitors have come up with, but ours might well end up being zero."
The Tech Board of Regents will meet to set the actual tuition and fee prices on May 8-9.
Ben Lock, who is also the executive assistant to the chancellor, said he expects, based on some recent proposals by school officials, that the Board will increase the tuition rates in their next meeting.
“Based on my experiences with the Board, I think the up-coming May meeting could go three different ways,” Lock said. “I think they could decide to increase the tuition by the full 4.4 percent, increase the tuition by roughly half of the proposed 4.4 percent (2.2 percent), or not increase the tuition at all.”
Texas Tech’s tuition and fees went up 4.79 percent last year. For this year’s plan, under the most expensive scenario, Tech students would pay $154.95 per semester credit hour, or $9.33 more per hour than they currently pay.
During their meeting on March 29, the Board also delayed reviewing a request for a College of Nursing and Allied Health, which would include the Department of Physical Therapy, until the May meeting.
The initial cost of this project is estimated at $235,000 to cover executive and administrative salaries and other associative spending. The request for a new facility for the college, with an estimated project cost of $44,250,000 and annual operating cost of $350,000, is also pending approval.