UCA votes to increase tuition
4% increase reflects concern over inflation, says president
CONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas will increase tuition and mandatory fees by 4% for the 202425 academic year after the university’s board of trustees unanimously approved the proposal during a meeting Tuesday.
The 4% increase reflects UCA’s concern over inflationary pressures on students and families — a common theme over the past three years — balanced with UCA’s operational needs, as well as a 2% cost of living adjustment for employees, said President Houston Davis. The minimum salary will increase to $29,120, plus full benefits, for full-time positions.
The operating budget for fiscal 2025, which starts July 1, totals $201,098,917, an increase of $5,923,867 — or 3% — over the previous year’s budget, according to UCA. The 2024-25 tuition and mandatory fees mean an average annual increase of $405 for undergraduates and $379 for graduate students; this year’s general registration fee was $238 per credit hour for undergraduates and $293.40 for graduate students.
Last May, the university approved a 3.48% tuition and mandatory fees increase for students, bringing the average price to $10,118 for undergraduates, who typically take 15 credits per semester, for 2023-24. The price for graduate students, who typically take 12 credit hours per semester, increased to $9,464.
For 2024-25, those prices will be $10,523 and $9,843 for undergrads and grad students, respectively, according to UCA. Based on the projected enrollment of full-time equivalent students, the tuition and fee increases will generate approximately $3.2 million in additional revenue for the university’s educational and general funds.
Additional revenue from the increase will support technology — software contracts, in particular, are a cost burden for the university — and a new Student Center Fee will generate approximately $123,476, which will be ap
plied toward renovation projects for the Ronnie Williams Student Center, according to UCA. Online undergraduates will pay $307 per hour, $12 more, while graduate students will pay $349 per credit hour, a $13 increase.
The international study abroad program and the U.S.-Canada study away program registration is also increasing. The cost per credit hour will be $280, $11 more, for undergraduate students, and for graduate students the new rate would be $322 per credit hour, a $12 increase.
Salaries and benefits make up 55.98% of the university’s operating budget, including $1,984,285 for the 2% cost-ofliving adjustment for faculty and staff, $220,000 for increases related to faculty promotions and advancement, and $375,904 for a minimum wage increase to $14 per hour (up from $13 this year), according to UCA. State-approved appropriations are decreasing by $892,398, and the state appropriation budget is at $63,409,229, 31.53% of the total budgeted revenue.
Trustees previously approved an overall increase in room (5.0%) and board (5.4%) rates for 2024-25.
Though students feel a burden with any cost increase, UCA’s Student Government Association appreciates that the administration has been “responsible” with the increase and acknowledges the university’s need for revenue, said Kylie McGraw, the new executive vice president of the association. Competitive pay for faculty will ensure continued high-quality instruction at UCA, and “we believe the investment” in the Student Center will benefit students for years to come, McGraw said.
“No one wishes” for increases in tuition and fees, but the current economics require it, and the increase is below the rate of inflation, said Brent Shires, the new faculty senate president. In addition, the 2% salary bump for faculty is “sorely needed,” he said.
The 4% increase in tuition and mandatory fees will “support the well-being of employees, and UCA as a whole,” added Whit Ables, staff senate president.
Total applications for this fall’s freshmen class are up 6% from last year, to 8,675, and admitted students are also up 6%, to 5,536, but the denial rate has also increased by 22%, to 714, Davis said. “We will not walk away from quality,” he said.
Davis is “cautiously optimistic” about a significant freshmen class, as 2,052 students have registered for SOAR (Summer Orientation + Academic Registration), up 33% from last year, and 1,705 have made housing deposits, a 19% increase, he said.
“We feel really good, (but) we’ve got to finish it off with a great summer and start to fall,” Davis said.
Beginning with this fall’s freshmen class, students from Arkansas households with less than $100,000 in income will not have to pay tuition and mandatory fees out of pocket. UCA will help these students receive all federal and state aid due to them, as well as scholarships, then assist in making up any remaining balance through UCA scholarships and work study programs, as part of UCA Commitment, which applies only to tuition and mandatory fees, not other costs like housing and meals.
Davis believes roughly 2,800 students could be on campus under the UCA Commitment in four years. In Arkansas, nearly 70% of households fall under the $100,000 income threshold, which is approximately 15% more than the national percentage, and the average dollar amount per student that UCA will need to cover under this program is projected to be $3,000-$4,000 annually.
Last week, UCA contacted 662 students regarding their eligibility for UCA Commitment, and 250 opted in within 24 hours, said Kevin Thomas, vice president for enrollment services and student success. “We’re now up to 464,” and the school is working with others before next Friday’s deadline, he said.
UCA Commitment is pivotal as the university attempts to remove cost as a barrier to education, Davis said. “We’re glad we have (this) going into an era when (cost) pressures will be exacerbated,” he said.
While all colleges and universities faced challenges due to the problems with the U.S. Department of Education’s rollout of a revamped FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) for the 202425 school year, UCA began working with students and potential students — and their families — last summer, Davis added. They knew “they could turn to UCA for help.”
Though UCA would typically begin sending financial aid packages to students in November of the prior year, UCA didn’t begin doing so this year until May 2 due to the issues with FAFSA, said Thomas. However, UCA has since packaged aid to 4,500 students for the 2024-25 academic year.
ENGINEERING GROWTH AND STRATEGIC PLAN ADDITION
In order to reflect the growing strength of engineering — UCA now has three engineering programs accredited by ABET, a non-governmental accreditation organization also known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc. — UCA announced it’s renaming the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and the Department of Physics and Astronomy the College of Science and Engineering and the Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Engineering.
This is “really an exciting change for us,” and a “signifier of what is next,” said Patricia Poulter, provost and executive vice president. It’s “amazing.”
Trustee Curtis Barnett would rate this as “among the proudest accomplishments” for UCA in recent years, he said. “It sets us on course for a new day, and I look forward to the future.”
Trustees also approved an addition to the current strategic plan, which was adopted in May 2021 and runs until fiscal year 2026.
The third goal of the plan is, “UCA will position itself to address grand challenges while maintaining the stability of the university, the sustainability of quality programming, and equity of access and success for all stakeholders,” but the Strategic Planning Committee voted in April to recommend an additional component: “UCA will prioritize attracting and retaining employees at competitive market salaries.”
This addition is “very important,” said Shires.
ACADEMIC CHANGES AND RECOGNITIONS
Trustees were also notified the UCA School of Nursing and the Baptist Health College Little Rock School of Nursing are entering into a consortial arrangement in which UCA pre-Bachelor of Science in Nursing students will complete the Associate of Applied Science in Nursing at Baptist Health College Little Rock while simultaneously completing additional online UCA courses to earn their Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
The purpose is to provide qualified UCA pre-BSN students with an alternate curriculum that will result in them obtaining the BSN at the same time as their counterparts who are admitted into the UCA BSN track, according to the university. “All appropriate university councils and administrators have recommended approval of this consortial arrangement.”
In addition, UCA will offer a new Associate of Business Administration degree by reconfiguration of the Bachelor of Business Administration degree.
“We are never still here at UCA,” Poulter said. For example, the Baptist Health agreement is “a really innovative and exciting way we can help individuals achieve their dream and goal and serve a larger number of students.”
Additionally, the new Associate of Business Administration degree “meets a particular area of need,” she said. Some students have to stop before reaching a bachelor’s degree, for various reasons, but they ought to have their associate’s degree, because “they earned it.”
UCA also announced it will honor two longtime employees who are retiring — Poulter and Dr. Randy Pastor — by dedicating the Poulter Commons within the Student Success and Veterans Resource Building and the Pastor Student Health Center within UCA’s Health Center building.
Pastor leads the health center, and he was especially valuable during the pandemic, Davis said. He said Poulter “has led with soul, heart, integrity, and acumen of decision making.”