Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

The University committee responsible for recommending tuition and fee policy will suggest a "modest" increase in tuition for 2005-06, UT Provost Sheldon Ekland-Olson said Wednesday.

After the Tuition Policy Advisory Committee gives their decision to UT President Larry Faulkner, a month will be set aside for public feedback before Faulkner decides to make any revisions and brings the proposal to the UT System for final approval. Committee members have been meeting over the last three months to decide on an increase or decrease and whether the flat-rate tuition program will continue.

"We're not attempting through tuition to meet all the needs of the University," Ekland-Olson said. "My major worry is that, given the modest increases, we will not be able to meet the needs of the University and [will] have to wait until the next legislative session gathers."

Ekland-Olson, co-chair of the tuition committee, declined to comment on exactly how much tuition will increase or the future of the flat-rate system that is in place at the colleges of Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences. Full-time students in these colleges pay a fixed price that does not vary per hour taken.

Kevin Hegarty, UT vice president and chief financial officer, who is co-chair of the committee along with Ekland-Olson, said any tuition increase will not likely cover all of the University's expenses. The University will ask the state Legislature this spring for an increase in funding to make up for an expected UT budget shortfall in 2005-06.

"It will be a very, very tight budget year," Hegarty said. "What that means for the future is ultimately too early to tell."

Similar budget constraints during the current fiscal year resulted in the faculty receiving a smaller-than-planned raise. The University also cut its maintenance budget.

The Legislature asked the University to prepare a budget factoring in a 5-percent reduction in state money, he said, but that does not necessarily mean less state funding will be allocated.

"Just the fact that they asked us to prepare a budget with a 5-percent decrease sets the tone that there aren't going to be large amounts of money available," Hegarty said. "It's a complicated picture. People still believe the myth that this University has the second-highest endowment in the country and, because of that, has more money than it can possibly spend."

Since the Legislature passed a law relinquishing state control of tuition, the University experienced a tuition increase of $720 last year.

"What the Legislature did is a perfect example of 'don't tax me, don't tax thee, tax the student behind the tree,'" said State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso. "That is the clearest example of the 'new values' that run Texas."

Shapleigh originally voted against the June 2003 bill that gave power to the Board of Regents to finalize tuition and said most senators would have voted against it if they saw the results.

"When tuition is dramatically increased, students will opt not to go to college, students will go out of state and some will take five-to-six years to get through college instead of four," Shapleigh said. "We will harm the education and economic opportunity of thousands of students by making college less affordable."

The designated spokesmen of the tuition committee, Student Government President Brent Chaney and Ekland-Olson, would not divulge specifics of the group's tuition plan until it releases its final report.

"[We want] everything done before we start saying, 'well, it might be this or it might be that,'" Chaney said. "We don't want tuition to be confusing."

Chaney hinted the increase would be less than last year's $720 hike at Tuesday's Student Government meeting.

"It's not as revolutionary as last year," Chaney said at the meeting.

Part of the delay in deciding a final policy is because the group is still working out the details and addressing students concerns, Chaney said.

"It's tough. Tuition is a tough thing to tackle, and by the end of it, I think we will have done the best we could with what we were given," Chaney said.

He said the group, comprised of four students and five administrators, is ultimately looking out for students' best interests.

"Whatever we come out with, the committee will have to agree on," Chaney said. "That's what the committee will stick to and believe in."