BOULDER — The news that University of Colorado at Boulder students will pay more for tuition next year — a 9.3 percent hike for most undergraduate residents — was met with concern on campus Tuesday.
Freshman Elizabeth Harvey of Erie said the cost was too much for her, so she will move back in with her parents and commute.
“I can’t afford to pay everything as it is,” said the journalism major. “My parents are helping me out as much as they can, but it’s hard on them too.”
University of Colorado Regents approved the tuition hike Tuesday, saying they had no choice but to raise the price instead of cutting programs.
“None of us likes to increase tuition,” Regent Paul Schauer said. “But in light of the situation we are in now, we are not left with too many options.”
Last year, tuition increased 14.6 percent.
CU president Bruce Benson said several factors contributed to the latest increase, including insufficient funding from the state and more mandates such as increased health care for employees and pay raises.
He said Colorado ranks 49th in state funding for higher education. He vowed to be more prudent in the coming years and show the legislature the university is deserving of more money.
“We are under extreme pressure to hold the funding we now have,” Benson said. “I think the regents did the right thing.”
The measure passed by a 7-2 vote, with Regents Tom Lucero and Kyle Hybl voting no.
Hybl said after the meeting that the university needs to do a better job of using the money it gets instead of raising tuition.
“Our focus needs to be on demonstrating the value higher education has and get public commitment for higher education,” Hybl said.
Pat Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education in San Jose, Calif., said CU is not alone. But raising tuition 24 percent in two years is a bit extreme, he said.
“Part of it is that Colorado has a poor track record of supporting higher education,” Callan said. “But it’s an attractive university in an attractive place. It will always find students who are willing to pay.”
Under the tuition schedule, state residents who are undergraduates would pay an extra $504 a year at CU-Boulder. That will cost most students $5,922 per year.
The tuition increase for undergraduate students at the Colorado Springs campus is 7.5 percent, while those at the downtown Denver campus will pay 8.5 percent more.
Out-of-state students will also see tuition rise at CU-Boulder.
The hit will be hard on Christian Nitu, a CU-Boulder freshman marketing major from California who says it costs him about $40,000 a year to go to business school. He likely will become a Colorado resident for the 2008-09 school year.
“Some kids have two jobs and others have to rely on grants. It’s going to shy a lot more people away. Money right now is hard to come by.”
Benson said the 9.3 increase is slightly less than the state legislative cap of 9.5 percent, and the university compares well in terms of tuition with other similar institutions.
“We’re under our peers in tuition levels,” he said.
Evan Dreyer, spokesman for Gov. Bill Ritter, said the state and the university need to do more to increase higher-education funding. He said the governor will sign the state budget soon and that will add between $60 million and $65 million for higher education.
Denver Post researcher Barbara Hudson contributed to this report.
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com
