Regents lukewarm to tuition increase
ANCHORAGE - University of Alaska officials are moving away from a hefty tuition increase proposed by President Mark Hamilton.
The UA Board of Regents agreed Friday that a tuition hike is merited. But a majority questioned Hamilton's idea of a 10 percent increase next year and another 10 percent increase in 2004. The board fears it would hammer students in more remote places such as Sitka, Kodiak and Bethel.
Enrollment at the university's smaller campuses is dropping, said Chancy Croft, a regent from Anchorage.
"To say we can risk increasing tuition by 10 percent when we haven't got the momentum at the community colleges, I think, is taking a big risk," Croft said.
The Bethel campus, for example, serves nearly 70 full time and up to 400 nontraditional students, such as 20 secretaries who fly in from scattered villages for a weekend course. More than half of full-time students rely on loans, campus director Bob Medinger said.
Many could not access online services that university officials are billing as one benefit of the tuition increase, Medinger said. "In 46 of 56 villages, you can't get a dial-up Internet connection."
Regents will decide on a tuition increase in November.
Last year, legislators denied a university administration request for nearly $17 million. Instead, the university got $8 million. To bring in the additional revenue, the administration wants to generate $5.1 million through tuition increases and another $3 million from a 5 percent enrollment increase. UA last raised tuition by more than the rate of inflation six years ago, according to school officials.
This year, an Alaska resident undergraduate student taking 15 credit hours at most campuses statewide is paying between $1,230 and $1,395 a semester. If the 10 percent increase passes, that would rise in two years to between $1,485 and $1,680.
Several regents suggested alternatives to the broad increase including inflation-only increases at smaller campuses or a scholarship program.
Student leaders will meet with Hamilton this weekend during a retreat at the Hotel Captain Cook.