UH tuition
will rise again

An increase of 2.5 to 5 percent
is being studied by officials

By Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin

Mindful of the 72 percent leap in tuition over the last two years, University of Hawaii officials are struggling for balance for the years 1998-2000.

But that'll still mean tuition will go up next fall.

Citing drastic increases between 1996-1998, a need to stabilize enrollment and trends in higher education favoring single-digit hikes, UH officials have begun tuition talks based on two options that call for increases of between 2.5 and 5 percent next fall.

Colleen Sathre, UH vice president for planning and policy, stressed that the tuition proposals -- presented at a Board of Regents workshop yesterday -- are preliminary figures for the regents to review, and are not up for board approval.

The timeline to set tuition calls for regents to advise UH officials on plans this fall, with proposals then distributed to the UH community, Sathre explained.

Tuition briefings, solicitation of written comments and formal public meetings will be held before UH President Kenneth P. Mortimer submits a final proposal to the board next spring, she said.

Mortimer stressed all tuition discussions will be open to the public. By law, the UH has to set next fall's tuition by the last day of the Spring semester, which is May 6, 1998.

"It is anticipated that the earliest the board could act on this matter would be at its regular monthly meeting in January or February 1998," Sathre said.

Currently, UH-Manoa undergraduate resident tuition is $1,416 a semester, while resident community college tuition is $468 a semester. In its two plans, the university has proposed hikes of either $36 or $48 per semester for Manoa undergraduates, and either $12 or $24 for community college students.

Manoa graduate students would face semester hikes of either $48 or $60; medical students, $108 or $120; UH-Hilo, $24 or $36; and UH-West Oahu, $24 or $36.

State law requires non-resident tuition throughout the UH system to be twice the Manoa undergraduate rate. UH officials, however, want to change the law next legislative session because it drastically affects the cost of non-resident tuition at the community college level.

The first plan, option "A," would generate $1.6 million in additional tuition revenue in 1998-1999, and $2.3 million the following year.

Option "B" would raise $2.3 million more the first year, and $3 million the next.

Tuition from the 1996-97 year generated $53.2 million in revenue. Revenue estimates for this academic year is $59 million. A 1995 law allows the UH to keep all tuition and fees raised instead of turning it over to the state.

The plans do not apply to the UH's William S. Richardson School of Law. Regents recently approved a separate law school tuition schedule through the year 2001.

Sathre said the two options take into consideration the need to return to more modest increases that stabilize enrollment and ensure access for anyone who wants a college education.

The availability of financial aid and recently enacted federal tax credits help lessen the impact of tuition hikes, she said.