Denver – A lawmaker rebuffed Gov. Bill Owens’ request to block a 28 percent in-state tuition increase at the University of Colorado today, while the governing board at the state’s other major school, Colorado State, approved a 15 percent in-state tuition hike.
Owens had asked the Legislature’s Joint Budget Committee to cut CU’s spending authority by $13.8 million to prevent the state’s largest university from spending any of the money from the tuition increase.
Rep. Tom Plant, vice chairman of the committee, said the panel does not have the authority to take back the money.
“It’s not something we have the authority to do. The governor should know that,” Plant said.
Jason Hopfer, spokesman for the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, disagreed. He said the increase violates an understanding the state had with CU, making it an “unforeseen circumstance” subject to Joint Budget Committee intervention.
Meanwhile, the Board of Governors of CSU, Colorado’s second-largest university, voted 7-1 to raise tuition for in-state undergraduate students by $441 a year.
In-state graduate students will pay 9 percent more, or about $304 a year.
Out-of-state tuition at CSU will increase by $814 for undergraduates and $849 for graduate students, CSU spokesman Brad Bohlander said.
