By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — Tuition and fees at the University of Arkansas’ campuses across the state are going up this fall.
The university’s board of trustees voted today to approve increases ranging from 4.8 to 6.9 percent for the 2010-11 school year. UA system President B. Alan Sugg told the board the increases are necessary because enrollment and utility costs are rising and the system does not expect an increase in state funding.
David Gearhart, chancellor of the university’s flagship campus in Fayetteville, noted that the system did not increase tuition for the current school year.
“Nobody hates it (raising tuition) more than we do at the university, because we don’t want it to be a barrier to students, but on the other hand we’ve got to balance keeping quality and keeping the place viable,” Gearhart said.
Board member Sam Hilburn of Little Rock cast the only “no” vote. Hilburn said he could support raising tuition while Arkansans are suffering through tough economic times.
“I promise I’d vote for it next year, for a tuition increase, but I just don’t want to do it right now with the economy being like it is,” he said.
Board member John Tyson of Springdale said the scholarships funded by the new state lottery, which will be awarded for the first time this fall, should give families some relief.
The Legislature has set the amounts of the lottery-funded scholarships at $5,000 per year to attend a four-year school and $2,500 per year to attend a two-year school.
Some critics of the lottery have questioned whether the benefits of the lottery would be eroded by tuition increases. Sugg told reporters Friday there are two ways of looking at that issue.
“Assuming that tuition increases continue over time, it will erode into the overall amount of the scholarship,” he said. “You can look at it that way, but you can also look at it as, if the institutions have to increase tuition, at least there is a vehicle to help lessen the impact of that tuition to students and to families.”
The approved increases are:
—4.8 percent at the flagship campus in Fayetteville, where annual tuition and fees will increase from $6,459 to $6,767.
—4.9 percent at the Little Rock campus, from $6,331 to $6,642.
—4.9 percent at the Pine Bluff campus, from $4,796 to $5,032.
—5.1 percent at the Monticello campus, from $4,750 to $4,990.
—6.9 percent at the Fort Smith campus, from $4,600 to $4,918.
—6.3 percent at the UA Community College at Morrilton, from $2,850 to $3,030.
—3.5 percent at the UA Community College at Batesville, from $2,570 to $2,660.
—6.5 percent at the Phillips Community College, from $2,016 to $2,121.
—5.2 percent at the UA Community College of Hope, from $2,016 to $2,121.
—3 percent at Cossatot Community College, from $2,020 to $2,080.
