State Board of Regents vote to approve tuition increases

On Friday, the Utah State Board of Regents approved a tuition rate increase at each of Utah’s public colleges and universities – Dixie, SUU, USU, U of U, Snow, Weber, SLCC and UVU.

The average increase is 7.5 percent, with Dixie facing the sharpest increase at 11.8 percent, SLCC the lowest at five percent. UVU students will pay 7.4 percent more in tuition, or $272 over the 2010-2011 rate of $1836. Despite the increase, UVU’s tuition will remain less expensive than that of peer institutions in other states.

Regents voted to approve the increase in order to help keep the State’s higher educational institutions afloat after a 2.5 percent drop in state funding to colleges and universities last year and a $100 million decrease over the last three years. This loss of State funding presented a challenge to Utah’s colleges and universities in the face of unprecedented enrollment, and Utah’s Commissioner of Higher Education William Sederberg hopes that the tuition increase will help support that growth, as well as maintain and improve accreditation and industry standards.