Proposed fee hikes mean more than an $800 increase for most students.
AMHERST - In-state Students attending the University of Massachusetts here should expect to pay on average $880 more for tuition and fees for the 2011-2012 academic year provided the full UMass Board of Trustees agrees to the recommended 7.5 percent hike.
The UMass Board of Trustees Committee on Administration and Finance today approved a 7.5 fee increase. The full board will vote on the proposal at its meeting June 8.
Trustee Victor Woolridge, chairman of the Committee on Administration and Finance, in a statement said “If the University of Massachusetts is to maintain, let alone expand, its reputation for excellence in teaching, research and service, it must have the necessary revenue to do so."
“With an anticipated reduction in state funding for the next fiscal year, the University is left with little choice other than to increase mandatory tuition and fees by 7.5 percent and ask the campuses to make further budget cuts,” said the Springfield trustee.
The increase was proposed by President Jack M. Wilson and was developed in collaboration with the campus chancellors, according to the press release. University officials have been working to close a fiscal 2012 $54 million budget gap, mainly due to the ending of the federal stimulus funds program.
This year that provided about $38 million to the system.
Two years ago, trustees approved a $1,500 hike, but about $1,100 was returned to students based on a sliding scale. Last year, the full hike was imposed.
“With this fee increase, we will be addressing our budget shortfall with equal amounts of new fee revenue and budget cuts. We are charting a balanced and responsible course,” said UMass President Jack M. Wilson in a statement. He said that 29 percent of the money to be generated by the fee increase would be funneled into financial aid.
“Financial aid is the key to maintaining affordability and is keeping the doors of opportunity open for our students,” he said in the release.
Out-of-state students will pay an additional $1,772, in fees according to a fact sheet.
Room and board costs are also up for in-state students here rising from $8,814 to $9,512 or $698, if approved.
Overall, the cost of attending UMass-Amherst and living on campus is up $1,578 on average from $20,546 to $22,124, according to the fact sheet.
UMass is not alone in its fee hikes.
Also Wednesday, Greenfield Community College Board of Trustees voted to approve a range of hikes from $6 to $20 per credit, based on how the state budget settles, said Robert L. Pura, president of the college.
This is the third year in a row for the $6 hike and he said it would likely end up in the $6 to $10 per credit range for the next school year, which would amount to a $144 to $240 hike per year.
“Every dollar to our students matters,” he said. Officials want to ensure they have all the information before raising fees further.
The $6 per credit hike amounts to a 3.3 percent increase for in-state students, said Timothy Braim, the college’s chief fiscal officer. A full-time student taking 12 credits per semester would see costs rising from $4,310 to $4,454 per year.
A $10 per credit increase would mean about a 5.5 percent hike, he said.