DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM University of Hawaii Board of Regents Chairwoman Patricia Lee and UH interim President David McClain listened yesterday to testimony from graduate student Ross Kamakahi, who said he favors a tuition increase if professors are held accountable for their work.

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UH-Manoa
tuition to soar
140% in 6 years

Community college costs also
will grow 98 percent under
the system-wide increase
OK'd by the UH regents

The University of Hawaii's Board of Regents yesterday approved a major tuition increase across the state's 10-campus university system, but promised to make sure the added revenue benefits students.

Under the plan, undergraduate resident tuition at UH-Manoa would more than double over the next six years to $4,200 a semester in the 2011-12 school year from 1,752 this fall, a 140 percent increase.

Tuition at the state's other four-year campuses will increase 120 percent, while community college tuition will grow 98 percent.

Board members meeting at the John A. Burns School of Medicine acknowledged some students and their families would be hit by the higher price tag, but said the university's hand is being forced by a decline in state funding, even as enrollment grows.

"We're taking some risks here, but it is imperative that we as the regents make sure that the organization remains fiscally sound," regent Jim Haynes said.

The plan also will gradually boost funding for basic need-based financial aid to $23 million by 2011-12, compared with $4.8 million now, university officials said.

Students warned that the tuition hike could dash the college dreams of those from low-income backgrounds and said the university has not spelled out how it will spend the new revenue, which will reach an extra $120 million a year by the sixth year.

UH-Hilo student Edward Johns accused the administration of a "track record of inconsistency and lack of accountability."

"Everyone is suspicious as to what this increase is going to," he said.

"There will be accountability on spending, and we will ask the administration to report annually to make sure access (to education) is not hindered," Lee said.

The university administration has sought to justify the increase by pointing out that UH tuition is among the lowest in the nation for state institutions. The six-year plan is aimed at bringing tuition levels more in line with national averages.

A stream of faculty members and college deans testified in anguished tones that while they sympathize with students, a shortage of funds is decimating programs.

They said many tenure-track faculty positions lie vacant, preventing the university from offering enough classes for students to graduate in a timely fashion.

Ultimately, this hurts the university's ability to draw the best faculty and students and will degrade the quality of education the university can offer, said Richard Dubanoski, dean of the College of Social Sciences at UH-Manoa.

"An increase will hurt some students, but if we continue on the current path, all students will be hurt," he said.

While offering few specifics, university officials said the money would be used to improve the quality of the education available to students by hiring and retaining top-notch faculty, adding classes, and improving facilities.

"This will help address the issues of growth and service to students," UH-Manoa Chancellor Peter Englert said. "That's where we want to go."

With the emotive subject of tuition on the agenda, the regents' meeting was held amid heavy security.

Coming two weeks after the end of a seven-day student occupation of UH President David McClain's office, held to protest a proposed military research center at the university, about a dozen security guards from the Manoa campus kept watch over the meeting and in adjacent entryways.

Board members and some faculty said the university is now paying the public relations price for past failures to raise tuition in line with national growth rates.

"We goofed in not following that. We should have raised tuition in the past," said Chuck Hayes, dean of the College of Natural Sciences at UH-Manoa. "That's why we're in trouble now."