University of Arizona wants to raise in-state tuition by 3%

The University of Arizona wants to raise undergraduate tuition by 3% for in-state students and 4% for out-of-state students who enroll next school year.

At its meeting next month, the Arizona Board of Regents will vote on these and other proposed cost-of-attendance increases at the UA.

If passed, the proposal, which UA President Robert C. Robbins sent to the regents on Friday, would go into effect during the 2023-24 school year.

But, almost none of the more-than 40,000 undergraduates already taking classes at the UA will see any change to their tuition prices. That’s because, in 2014, the university created the Guaranteed Tuition Program, which freezes undergraduate tuition and fee rates for eight semesters, beginning with the term of the student’s matriculation.

Last year, the UA raised its tuition and fees for the first time since before the COVID pandemic. Right now, in-state undergraduates who started in the fall of 2022 pay $11,525 in annual tuition and new non-residents pay $37,827.

If this proposal passes, new in-state students would pay $11,871 and new out-of-state students would pay $39,340 starting next fall.

Although the UA did raise mandatory fees for undergraduates by $175 last year, it does not plan to make any changes to those fees this year, according to a news release. However, the Recreation Center Program fee, which increases annually based on the Consumer Price Index, and the Arizona Financial Aid Trust fee will increase based on an approved tuition increase.

“It remains a priority of the University of Arizona to keep tuition increases as low as possible for our students and their families, while ensuring that we are able to carry out our education, research and land-grant missions,” Robbins said in a news release. “I am pleased that most of our students will not see an increase in tuition next year, and the increases for the incoming class are well below inflation rates to minimize impact.”

Under the proposal, all resident graduate students would see a 3% annual tuition increase, to $12,718.

Nonresident graduate students will see no increase, and will continue to pay $32,290 per year.

Additionally, the UA wants to increase all graduate students’ mandatory fees by $3.

Resident tuition for the College of Medicine — Tucson and College of Medicine — Phoenix would increase 4.75%, with these details:

Nonresident tuition would increase 1.25% for first-year through fourth-year students.

Resident students in the Phoenix college would pay $18,894 per semester, while nonresidents would pay $27,980 per semester.

Resident students in the Tucson college would pay between $17,810 and $18,894 per semester depending on what year of medical school they are in.

Nonresidents would pay between $27,703 and $27,980 per semester.

College of Veterinary Medicine tuition will not increase, remaining at $47,277 a year for resident students and $73,542 a year for nonresidents.

‘Unfortunate ... rates have to increase’

This — and previous — tuition proposals were created with input from the Associated Students of the University of Arizona and the Graduate and Professional Student Council.

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Over the next month, the public will have a chance to weigh in on the increases as well, before the Board of Regents votes on it at its April 20 meeting in Tucson.

“I believe that all students deserve the opportunity to have an affordable near-to-free college education,” Patrick Robles, previous president of the ASUA student government, said in the news release. “It is unfortunate that once again tuition rates have to increase for the sake of balancing out an ever-increasing cost of living and rising inflation rates. I hope to see the day that tuition rates do not have to increase in order to keep the university in operation.”

Although there are no guarantees of that happening any time soon, at its February meeting, ABOR made a change to its tuition-setting policy structure that is, according to Chair Lyndel Manson, designed to “reduce confusion about tuition and fees and — most of all — provide predictability for students so they know what to expect when budgeting for college.”

ABOR approved a new, multi-year structure for setting tuition at all three of Arizona’s public universities.

According to a news release from the regents, under the policy revision, which goes into effect for the 2024-25 school year, “tuition increases are prohibited if the state of Arizona increases General Fund appropriations for general operations or university student financial aid or a combination of the two on an ongoing basis in excess of 2.5% of total tuition and fees revenue.”

Additionally, the release explained, “University presidents are also able to set the published resident undergraduate and graduate tuition rate in excess of the maximum growth rate if state funding were reduced.”

Maximum tuition increase proposals

For years, regents have partly blamed the Arizona Legislature’s continued disinvestment in higher education for the rise in state university tuition prices. The board has framed the policy change as an effort to offset that trend.

“We are hoping the state will support Arizona families and students,” ABOR Chair-elect Fred DuVal said. “So, we are making a clear and simple offer to the Legislature: if the Legislature commits to a sufficient level of committed multi-year funding, we will cap tuition.”

A graphic provided by ABOR shows the state’s general fund investment has decreased by nearly half from 2008 to 2023. During that same time, tuition and fee rates at Arizona’s public universities have more than doubled — from $6,756 to $13,890.

Under the new policy, the UA, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University “must present maximum growth rates for resident tuition, fees, housing and meal plans in six-year cycles,” according to the UA’s news release. “The board revisits those rates every four years and determines whether they should be extended an additional four years.”

The UA has proposed the following maximum annual tuition growth rates for academic years 2024-25 through 2028-29:

3% for undergraduate resident tuition.

3% for graduate resident tuition.

5% for academic fees.

5% for College of Medicine – Tucson and College of Medicine – Phoenix tuition.

5% for College of Veterinary Medicine tuition.