University of Colorado officials presented what they called their final proposal Wednesday in the battle between the school and Gov. Bill Owens over how much to raise tuition.
The plan calls for keeping 28 percent increases for most in- state undergraduates next school year but refunding tuition through financial aid for College of Arts and Sciences freshmen and sophomores so that they pay only a 15 percent increase. Arts and sciences juniors and seniors would be refunded enough tuition to mean a 20 percent increase.
“We’ve come to a point where we believe we have to close the budget,” said CU president Betsy Hoffman, adding that the 2005-06 budget starts Friday. “We can’t wait any longer to send out bills to our students.”
Owens sent a letter late Wednesday rejecting CU’s new plan.
“If we were Regents, we would not approve this plan, as we do not believe it does enough to protect Colorado students,” Owens’ letter said. “Since the Regents are independently elected officials and have made it clear that they do not wish to discuss this matter with us, we have no other option but to address CU’s tuition rates in next year’s budget.”
Owens has the power to veto legislation and budget requests by CU next year.
Hoffman conceded at a news conference that Owens could hurt CU in future years. Owens also complained that regents never responded to his request to meet, but CU spokesman Michael Hesse said CU staff met with the governor’s staff because regents could meet only as a group, and the regents received no counterproposals from the Colorado Commission on Higher Education or the governor’s staff.
If the regents approve the newest proposal today, it will force CU to cut about $5.2 million in its 2005-06 budget to provide the financial aid to bring the tuition increases down for students. The school would not be able to fill 15 faculty positions, would spend less on building maintenance, would eliminate some advisers and instructors, and would cancel some journal subscriptions.
But the plan is set up in such a way that CU could keep a base 28 percent increase on which future year increases could be based. Hoffman said they could continue in future years with small tuition increases if a referendum that allows the state to keep revenues that would normally be refunded under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights passes in the November election.
CU officials concede that their main objective in the proposal was to show the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee that CU was trying to address high tuition. The JBC’s chairman, Sen. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo, said he hadn’t seen the details of the plan but would not support rescinding CU’s tuition authority based on the preliminary information he received.
Tapia was concerned that any new increases would be on the 28 percent base and noted that other legislators could move to rescind CU’s spending authority in next year’s legislative session.
“From my point of view, I wouldn’t hold (tuition authority) over their heads,” said Tapia, who could have been a key vote at the JBC to rescind tuition authority. “They did what they had to do.”
The conflict started at the beginning of the month when CU proposed raising tuition 28 percent for most in-state undergraduates, saying that out-of-state students would not come if their tuition went up much more.
Owens and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education moved to block that increase by asking the JBC to rescind $13.8 million of the $43.5 million in tuition-increase authority the legislature approved.
The JBC last week declined to act on the governor’s request but asked CU and state officials to reach a compromise. Hoffman said she repeatedly talked with CCHE executive director Rick O’Donnell while CU lobbyists contacted Democratic legislators.
At first, CU offered to keep tuition to 15 percent for all resident freshmen and sophomores, but that was rejected.
Staff writer Arthur Kane can be reached at 303-820-1626 or akane@denverpost.com.
