State residents who start at the University of Arizona this fall will pay 3.2 percent more for tuition than current freshmen, and nonresidents will pay 7.2 percent more.
The rate increases were approved today at the UA during a meeting of the Arizona Board of Regents, overseers of the state's university system.
Most current UA undergraduates β about 78 percent β are not affected. Their rates were set in years past and locked in under the UAβs guaranteed tuition plan.
A UA freshman who lives in Arizona will now face a total annual tab of $11,769 in tuition and mandatory fees, an increase of $366. A nonresidentβs tab will rise by $2,337 to $34,967.
Regents spent much of Thursday's session lamenting the need for tuition increases and calling for the state legislature to give back tens of millions in funding previously cut from the university system.
The board has asked lawmakers to restore $32 million to the university system for the coming school year β $24 million more than the $8 million Gov. Doug Ducey has offered in his proposed state budget.
Tuition rates already are a strain for many Arizonans, Regents said, especially those with just enough income that they donβt qualify for financial aid.
βMore and more weβre creating stress in the middle class and that canβt continue,β said Regent Rick Myers of Tucson said.
The new UA rate structure also includes a 2.8 percent increase for in state graduate students and a 5.8 percent increase for nonresidents. Those changes adds up to an extra $355 for residents and $1,765 more for nonresidents.
Students at the UAβs Sierra Vista campus will see their bills rise by 2.9 percent to $8,803 for residents. Nonresidents would pay 5.9 percent more for a total of $31,265.
Regents also approved tuition increases for Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University.
