University of Colorado regents unanimously submitted a budget request to the state Thursday asking for a $44.7 million increase next year.
CU president Hank Brown said if the state comes up with the 6.3 percent increase on top of this year’s $605 million education budget, he will work hard to make sure there is no tuition increase for residents next year.
“The hope is you wouldn’t have a tuition increase,” Brown said Thursday. “You’d have a tuition cut if (Referendum) C passes.”
Any increase in state money for CU is likely only if Referendum C passes in November, which would allow the state to keep excess tax revenue that would have been refunded under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
But CU’s request is only the first in a series of steps to put together next year’s budget. CU staff on Wednesday outlined budget scenarios that showed there might be a tuition increase of 11 to 19 percent for in-state students if the referendum passes and as much as 42 percent if the ballot measure fails.
Jason Hopfer, spokesman for the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, said CCHE will review the request but it is too early to tell what will happen.
Brown said Thursday he will make significant cuts to CU’s budget before instituting large tuition increases, but he could not completely rule out an increase even if the referendum passes.
That is because it is not known how much of that money the state legislature will allocate for higher education.
Without additional state money, CU expects a $26 million shortfall in the 2006-07 budget year.
Brown also said Thursday he is not in favor of having students displaced by Hurricane Katrina pay the equivalent of in-state tuition rates, similar to a proposal Colorado State University unveiled Wednesday.
Brown said in-state tuition is below the cost of providing the education, but he wants CU officials to provide financial aid to hurricane victims who cannot afford the full tuition, which is about $4,000 for undergraduates.
Regent Michael Carrigan said CU should at least charge out- of-state hurricane victims the cost of educating the students and not the out-of-state tuition rate of about $20,000 that subsidizes in-state students.
Staff writer Arthur Kane can be reached at 303-820-1626 or akane@denverpost.com.
