The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees have approved raising tuition 3 percent – or $158 per semester – for in-state students this fall, bringing Kentucky first-year tuition to $10,780.
In a press release from UK, officials emphasized that the tuition and mandatory fee proposal would bring the four-year average rate of increase for resident students to 4.25 percent, its lowest levels in nearly a decade.
“We have made a strategic and thoughtful effort to slow the rate of increases in tuition for our students. At the same time, through efficiency and hard work, we’ve sought to more competitively pay our faculty and staff while also finding innovative paths and partnerships for rebuilding and transforming our campus,” UK President Eli Capilouto was quoted as saying.
Keith Gannon, chair of the UK Board of Trustees echoed that sentiment.
“At the University of Kentucky, we are committed to putting students first in everything that we do. That commitment is evidenced in the steps we have taken to invest more in student aid and to continue to lower the rate of increase for tuition, all while investing more in facilities and technology that support students and their learning needs,” Gannon said.
In the budget that will be proposed to the board in June, the institution will invest $101 million in university funded student financial aid — an increase of about $15 million, or 17 percent. If adopted, UK will have “more than doubled the budget for student financial aid including adding more than $25 million since 2014 alone,” the release stated.
Officials noted that state appropriations, as a percent of public funds for university operations, have declined to 43 percent in 2015 from 63 percent in 2008. In “raw numbers,” recurring state appropriations have been cut $55 million.
“We are extremely sensitive to the cost of education for our students and their families,” Capilouto said. “Even as tuition has risen to ensure that we can pay for the education we provide, we have increased institutional aid and taken other measures to keep this high-quality education affordable to Kentuckians.”
Other key components of the action taken include:
‣ Non-resident students will see tuition rates increase by 6 percent. Non-resident tuition rates are required by the state to be at least two times the resident tuition rates.
‣ Resident and non-resident graduate students will receive 3 percent and 6 percent increases, respectively.
‣ The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education is expected to vote on UK’s proposal in April.
The board also reviewed housing and dining rates for 2015-2016:
‣ Most housing rates will increase by 3 percent.
‣ Dining rates will increase by 3.5 percent for the minimum seven meals per week plan. The seven-day unlimited plan will increase by 2.4 percent and there will be no change in the rate for the 10 meals per week plan.
‣ All other dining plans will increase 3.2 to 3.6 percent.
Good grief! 10 short years ago the cost was one-half of this. How do they expect people to come up with this kind of money when wages are stagnant?