UCA credit-hour cost going up, but not fees

Board alters criteria for out-of-state waiver

CONWAY — University of Central Arkansas students will pay $10 more per credit hour for tuition this fall.

The seven-member UCA board on Friday approved the increase to tuition rates and held steady all of the university’s mandatory fees for the 2017-18 school year. An instate undergraduate student was paying $207.43 per credit hour but will now foot $217.43 per credit hour. Out-of-state undergraduate students will pay double the amount of the new tuition rate.

UCA, which has 11,487 students, is the second public four-year university to take up tuition and fee rates for the forthcoming school year. Southern Arkansas University’s board on Thursday approved a similar measure, increasing the credit-hour cost by $5 and leaving mandatory fees alone. The school has 4,771 students.

The UCA board and President Houston Davis struggle to make sure ends meet, said board member Joe Whisenhunt.

“We have limited funds to do things with,” he said. “And we are trying to improve the entire student experience. Part of that is in faculty raises, part of it is in operational, part of it is in capital improvements that we’re making. We have to be able to show students, number one, that we are offering them more every time we do this.”

He added that UCA tries to remain in the normal range of annual tuition increases, which he said was anywhere from 2 to 4 percent.

“We’re still — within the state, within our peers —

well within the range of what everyone else is offering,” he said. “But we are trying our best to spread those funds the best way we can to improve student experience, and that is in listening to faculty, listening to students, staff senates, and understanding what the the needs are on campus and responding to them.”

Currently, an in-state undergraduate student taking 15 credit hours at UCA is paying $4,112.10 per semester, and that amount will increase to $4,262.10 per semester this fall. Out-of-state undergraduates taking that same course load are now paying $7,223.55 per semester and will owe $7,523.55 per semester come August.

Along with the tuition increase, the UCA board also added an academic requirement for out-of-state students receiving a waiver for housing. Out-of-state students are eligible for the in-state tuition rate if they live on campus.

Starting in fall 2018, students with that waiver must be unconditionally admitted, including needing no remedial coursework and having a minimum of a 2.75 highschool grade-point average and a minimum of 21 on the ACT college-entrance exam, according to the university’s website.

“The amount of this scholarship is really comparable to our midrange academic scholarships,” said Diane Newton, vice president of finance and administration, of the out-ofstate waiver. “And so we feel that the academic component to this is appropriate.”

The Student Government Association’s outgoing executive president, Kelsey Broaddrick, said the group wasn’t able to pass a resolution either in support of or against the rate increase.

“SGA was not made aware of the proposed tuition and room and board rates early enough to allow for discussion, gathering of student input and passing of a resolution that would voice the opinion of the student body,” she said, using the association’s initials. “This is concerning to myself and SGA — as we were unable to produce a resolution for this action — because the students are affected, which are our constituents.”

UCA President Houston Davis said some of that fell on him, as he started in the role Jan. 23. Normally, he said, the budgeting process starts as early as November.

The university budgeted for flat enrollment for a total of $187.6 million for the 201718 school year with a planned 2 percent cost-of living increase for classified employees starting July 1. UCA is also building up a reserve fund for future cost-of-living increases to be rolled out in January should enrollment reach an “acceptable level.”

Davis said he had “boundless enthusiasm” about the school’s future.

“We have got a lot of tools at our disposal,” he said. “We continue to have indicators of growth for the fall, no matter how you slice it: applications, students admitted, transfers admitted, graduate students admitted. All are continuing healthy trends … year over year. Our summer enrollments are up, which again is an encouraging sign for continuing enrollment for the existing students.”

He continued, “All of that certainly pales in comparison to our excitement potentially about the quality of this year’s freshman class.”

The incoming class could be UCA’s most qualified academic class in its history, UCA said. Because of that, the university is also planning an increased scholarship and waiver fund.