ASU System raises tuition, fees

JONESBORO — The Arkansas State University System’s board raised tuition and fees systemwide Wednesday, expressing a need to offer employee merit pay and to create a surplus for future maintenance costs.

The five trustees voted unanimously on the 1.9 percent increase for the Jonesboro campus, which is the lowest increase of the 10 public universities in Arkansas this year, ASU System President Chuck Welch said.

The University of Arkansas increased its tuition and fees by 3.5 percent, and the University of Arkansas at Monticello raised its tuition and fees by 11.8 percent. UAM also added a $10 per credit hour deferred maintenance fee last week.

At ASU-Beebe, ASU-Mountain Home and ASU-Newport, tuition and fees are to increase by 1.8 percent. For ASU-Mid South in West Memphis, the increase is 2.4 percent to compensate for the expiration of a U.S. Department of Labor grant. On the Jonesboro campus, the increase means instate undergraduate students will pay $2 more in tuition for a rate of $202 per credit hour. All students also will pay an additional $3 per credit hour for deferred maintenance.

Welch said the new fee is the result of a recent Arkansas Department of Higher Education facilities audit indicated the ASU System had $29 million in “critical needs.”

The “critical needs” include work on roofs at residence halls, waterproofing facilities and exterior repairs to buildings, the president said.

“This has been something of a concern for quite a long time,” Welch said. “It’s only going to get worse. There is a real desire on my part to be prepared.” The fee will generate an estimated $1.8 million to $2.4 million a year, he said.

Trustees gathered on the Jonesboro campus Wednesday to approve the increases. The special meeting was held because legislators provided information on funding to universities later than in the past, Welch said. “It was impossible to get everything together for our regular meeting,” he said, referring to the board’s May 13 meeting at ASU-Mid South.

Wednesday’s meeting went quickly, with trustees noting the increase was one of the lowest with which they’ve been involved. Last year, trustees favored a 4.2 percent increase in tuition and fees.

Trustee Niel Crowson of Jonesboro asked campus chancellors to assess personnel needs and closely monitor expenditures.

“This is the second opportunity I’ve had to review the budget,” Crowson said. “I’d prefer not to have any increases, but I am realistic. I challenge each campus to make employee compensation a top priority.” Crowson asked chancellors to review staff positions to determine if any are underperforming or are “no longer viable.”

“Any money saved can be used to strengthen our employee pool,” he said.

Welch said he realized that a deferred-maintenance fee was necessary after the ASU System paid $15 million to replace every light bulb and fixture on its campuses earlier this year. The president added it’s been at least six years since state money for universities has increased.

“We wanted to be as efficient as possible,” Welch said. “We don’t want to get caught 15 to 20 years from now with greater [maintenance] crises than we have now.”

State Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, said he hopes legislators address university funding during the next legislative session, but yearly tuition increases have helped put money in university coffers.

“Universities have seen increases [in tuition and fees] of 10 [percent] to 12 percent over the past six or seven years,” Sullivan said. “What other business, besides the medical field, can say that?

“If they keep raising costs, consumers will be concerned. At some point, consumers will say they can no longer afford it. The universities will have to consider if they will absorb costs in the future or if consumers will.”