The state Senate on Wednesday rejected Colorado State University’s last-minute bid for permission to collect an extra $34 million in tuition from some students.
CSU officials wanted lawmakers to change the state budget to allow the university to collect more money from middle- and high-income students so it could offer free admission to lower-income students.
The effort caught budget-writing lawmakers and CSU students by surprise.
The proposal was initially added to the budget and later stripped on an 18-15 vote. A final vote on the budget is set for today in the Senate.
“This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen CSU do in the 11 years I’ve been down here,” said Sen. Steve Johnson, R-Larimer County, who sits on the Joint Budget Committee.
CSU skirted the usual process for writing the state budget, Johnson said, by agreeing to a deal forged by state officials in charge of the higher education system and then pushing for the sweetheart deal at the “11th hour and the 59th minute.”
The initial agreement allowed the university to charge a 7 percent increase in tuition, allowing CSU to collect an extra $11.3 million.
But CSU president Larry Penley said Wednesday the amount is unfair because the University of Colorado system is allowed to collect an extra $31.5 million from its students next year.
“We’ve been down there saying that this kind of inequity should end,” Penley said.
The CSU proposal allowed the university to bill full-time students for 12 credit hours at current tuition rates rather than the current maximum of nine hours it bills students.
“We’re actually discussing not raising tuition at all,” Penley said. “We’re charging young people for credit hours that they’re getting for free right now.”
The proposal stirred emotions during a four-hour debate over the $17.8 billion state budget.
Sen. Peter Groff, D-Denver, gave a ringing speech about how the plan would give a “golden ticket” to a college education for low-income students.
Some wondered whether Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter would even support it or if it would prompt a veto.
“The Senate did the right thing,” said Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer.
“The governor’s proposal is a much more modest approach to inject additional funds into higher education while at the same time protecting middle-income families. …”
Luke Ragland, 21, a junior political science major at CSU, made a special trip to the state Capitol to convince senators to vote against the plan.
Ragland’s parents, who own a sawmill in Dolores, would face $2,500 in additional tuition costs for himself and his sister, a high school senior headed to CSU, if the proposal passed.
“This is the wrong way for CSU to go about it,” Ragland said. “The students have been for all the increases and then they buffaloed us with this.”
Despite the defeat, Penley said, “We will certainly continue to argue for this.”
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-954-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
