A panel of students, faculty and administrators is asking the University of Texas at Austin to raise in-state tuition by 2.6 percent for each of the next two years. The Tuition Policy Advisory Committee (TPAC) delivered its recommendation to UT president Bill Powers today.
The increase would mean the average costs per semester for an undergraduate from Texas would raise $127 to $5,023 next school year. Those costs would increase by $131 to $5,154 for the 2013-14 school year.
At the same time, TPAC is recommending increases of 3.6 percent per year for non-resident undergraduate students and both in-state and non-resident graduate students.
The increases would generate about $15 million for the university per year, after state deductions. In a news release, the TPAC said the increase “is justified and necessary to maintain the basic core services and make progress toward improving four-year graduation rates.”
UT President Powers outlined in a speech at the beginning of the school year how he would like to increase four-year graduation rates from 51 percent to 70 percent over the next five years, the Daily Texan reported.
Conservative groups in Texas, the Texas Public Policy Foundation in particular, have been pressuring public universities to increase accountability and efficiency. While the University of Texas defends itself as the 10th most efficient public research university in the nation, it has also admitted it has room to improve.
TPAC will host a public forum on Wednesday, November 30 at 4 p.m. in the ACES Auditorium to hear feedback on the tuition proposal. President Powers is scheduled to attend.
