Tuition raised on upper-level courses, grad students
About half of undergrads won’t face increase, UNM administrators say
The further students advance in their University of New Mexico academic careers, the more they will pay.
Rather than an across-the-board percentage tuition hike, the school’s Board of Regents on Wednesday approved a plan that increases tuition by $18 per credit hour on upper-level courses, a measure administrators say will mean no tuition increase for more than half of UNM’s undergraduate population.
Regents approved a different increase for gradu-
ate students, raising tuition by 4 percent and also $18 per credit hour on some courses.
All told, the changes average to a 4 percent tuition increase, according to Terry Babbitt, associate vice president of enrollment management.
Babbitt told regents tying undergraduate increases to 300- and 400-level courses better reflects the value of those classes, which are smaller and taught by tenuretrack instructors. The tuition model also mostly spares first- and second-year students who are more likely to drop out.
In a statement after the meeting, Regent President Rob Doughty called the hike “basically ... a wash” for undergrads who participate in the “Finish-in-Four” program that waives final-semester tuition for those who complete degrees in four years.
The extra tuition money should cover about half of the $8.9million budgetary hole the school has projected for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The regents are expected to approve the full 2018 budget next month.
While student government president Noah Brooks spoke out against any increase during Wednesday’s meeting, he said it was likely the “best case scenario” coming out of the meeting.
The administration had proposed a greater increase — $23 per hour — as the school continues grappling with state budget cuts. UNM saw its state funding drop by 7 percent this year and expects to sustain another 1 percent hit for the new year.
State appropriations have fallen about $43million, or 12.8 percent, since fiscal year 2009.
The UNM administration’s proposal to regents, determined after months of meetings by the school’s “budget leadership team,” assumed tuition increases would cover $5.6million of the expected budget hole, while lower expenses would account for the other $3.3million. That included trimming administration, travel and other costs, plus using workforce attrition to save on payroll.
But Regent Tom Clifford argued that cuts should equal new tuition revenue.
“We would be able to articulate to our students that the (tuition) increases are being balanced by efforts on the cost side,” he said.
Prior to the regents’ approval of the lower-than-proposed tuition hike, acting university President Chaouki Abdallah cautioned them about the difficulty of trimming another $1 million.
“This is not a threat or a promise, I am saying we are right now stretched very much in all aspects of the academic mission,” he said, adding that the university could make it work but not without possible long-term damage. “In a year or two years or three years, some of the decisions we make will have a negative effect.”
Abdallah said in an interview after the meeting that cutting an additional $1 million might mean leaving more faculty vacancies unfilled or even layoffs.
Faculty Senate President Pamela Pyle said she thinks the school will “now be cutting bone and not fat.”
“The idea of ‘balancing’ presented today ignores years of cuts taken on the academic side with incredible State decreases and relatively modest tuition increases in the recent period. It is akin to the story about Solomon and the baby — it sounds equitable, but in this case, the baby is harmed,” she told the Journal in a written statement.
Brooks told the Journal he understood the possible implications of more cuts on campus but had to advocate for students who are already facing higher fees in 201718 plus the almost-certain decline in lottery scholarship tuition coverage. Though nothing is final yet, Babbitt said Wednesday he anticipates lottery money covering about 60 percent of tuition in 2017-18. It currently covers about 90 percent.
“If this was a different year, we could possibly support (tuition increases),” Brooks said. “But timing is everything, and we just do not support it at this time.”