Tuition up 3.3 percent at Regents Schools

Average increase is smallest since 1996

NASHVILLE — Students at Tennessee Board of Regents institutions face tuition and mandatory fee hikes ranging from 2.6 percent to 6.3 percent when they return to campus in August.

The board approved the increases last Friday. Officials said the overall average increase of 3.3 percent across TBR’s six universities, 13 community colleges and 27 Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology is the lowest average increase since 1996, a result of a larger infusion of taxpayer funding proposed by Gov. Bill Haslam and approved by state lawmakers.

Students pay a combination of tuition, mandatory fees and class-specific fees and, where applicable, residence hall and meal plan payments.

Here are the increased tuition and mandatory fees for the 2015-16 school year for in-state students taking course loads of 12 credit hours total, for two semesters, at selected institutions:

Austin Peay State University: $7,501, up $333; 4.6 percent.

East Tennessee State: $8,153, up $486; 6.3 percent.

Middle Tennessee State: $8,080, up $204; 2.6 percent.

Tennessee State: $7,111, up $181; 2.6 percent.

Tennessee Tech: $8,011, up $332; 4.3 percent.

University of Memphis: $8,903, up $284; 3.3 percent.

TCATs: $3,554, up $129; 3.8 percent.

Southwest Tennessee Community College: $3,963, up $120; 3.1 percent.

“We are pleased that the tuition levels are the lowest they have been in decades, but we do understand that every time fees are raised, someone may be priced out of an opportunity to attend one of our institutions,” TBR Chancellor John Morgan said.

The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees has meetings today to set tuition rates for its campuses.

New and historical tuition data at TBR schools is online attbr.edu/business/fees.