UT tuition increase clears its first hurdle

A proposed tuition increase, touted as the lowest in more than 30 years, at the University of Tennessee got preliminary approval Tuesday from a Board of Trustees subcommittee.

The proposal would raise tuition and fees for most in-state undergraduates by 1.8 percent for the 2017-2018 school year, which the university says is the lowest increase since 1984. Most out-of-state undergraduate students would see an increase of less than 1 percent.

The proposal, approved unanimously by the subcommittee on tuition, fees and financial aid, must now be approved by the board’s finance and administration committee and then the full board at its meeting later this month.

It follows a 2.2 percent increase approved by trustees in 2016 and a 3 percent increase in 2015, and marks the first time since 1978-1979 that undergraduate tuition increases were 3 percent or less for two consecutive years, according to

a news release Tuesday from the university.

In the release, UT President Joe DiPietro attributed the low increases to state appropriations being at “very helpful” levels, thus allowing UT to self-limit tuition.

“I believe this is an example of partnership between the state and the University of Tennessee to enable affordability while also maintaining excellence,” DiPietro said.

For the last three years, DiPietro has also headed up efforts to keep tuition rate increases at or below 3 percent via his Budget Advisory Group. The group was formed in response to a $377 million budget gap estimated to be in place by 2025, though members reported last month that better than expected increases in state appropriations, tuition and fees and other revenues have reduced that number by more than half.

At the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where tuition and mandatory fees for most in-state undergraduates is currently $12,724 per year, the proposed increase would bring that number to $12,970. Most out-of-state students at UT Knoxville currently pay $31,144 in tuition and mandatory fees and would pay $31,390 under the new proposal.

Those figures do not include housing and meal plan costs, which are also going to be increasing for most students across the UT system. There are also increases in other fees, including some classroom and programming fees, for different programs across the system.

The subcommittee also unanimously approved a proposal presented by Richard Brown, vice chancellor for finance and administration at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, to nearly cut in half its tuition rate for out-of-state graduate students, with the exception of international students.

Tuition at UTC for outof-state graduate students is currently $25,994, compared to an average cost of $16,929 at peer institutions in the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, Brown said.

If approved by the full board, out-of-state graduate students at UTC could expect to see tuition drop to $17,940 in 2018-2019.