ASU proposes tuition increase

To visit Your Tution Website click here.

Arizona State University has proposed a 2008-2009 tuition increase of five percent to an annual tuition of $5,063 for returning resident undergraduate students and a “market tuition correction” to $5,409 a year for new resident undergraduate students. Thereafter, resident undergraduate ASU students would be able to plan on tuition increases at five percent per year, giving families predictability while enabling the university to keep pace with other top public research universities.

University officials believe this multiyear proposal for modest and predictable tuition increases will help students and their families plan for the cost of a college education. In addition, ASU offers abundant opportunities for financial aid to students and families at various income levels so that academically qualified students are not denied an education for financial reasons.

The portion of the cost of a college education paid through tuition is the best investment that a student can make in his or her future. Unlike disposable items such as food, fuel or even a car – items that are consumed or depreciate in value over time – a college education lasts a lifetime. Average annual earnings of individuals with a bachelor’s degree are more than 75 percent higher than the earnings of high school graduates. These additional earnings sum to more than $1 million over a lifetime. And that is just the average. Many college graduates will earn two, three, four or more times that amount.

ASU, by design, remains one of the best bargains in the country, having one of the lowest levels of tuition of any senior research university in the nation. But five years ago, undergraduate in-state tuition was less than $2,500, an inadequately low number that covered a small fraction of the cost of providing an ASU education. For years, this tuition level, which ranked 49 among the 50 state senior research universities, was coupled with lean state budgets that decreased ASU’s state funding on a per-student basis. The result was the university was financially starved. Faculty members who left the university were not replaced, and classes became too large. Student retention and graduation were consistently among the lowest in the PAC-10.

With the tuition increases of the last few years – along with increased state funding – ASU has been able to hire and retain more faculty, decrease class size, extend library hours, buy new educational technology and generally improve its academic quality, which is reflected in the increase in student retention and graduation rates.

The proposed increase for incoming resident students is a tuition correction from the inadequately low tuition levels of the recent past and gives ASU the resources available at peer institutions, all of which have greater levels of per-student funding. The proposed increases would move ASU’s tuition to the top of the lower one-third of senior research university tuitions, in compliance with Arizona Board of Regents Policy. ASU is ranked 42 out of the 50 states on that list. View the tuition comparison chart.

Other proposed ASU tuition increases are: five percent for non-resident undergraduate students to $17,697, nine percent for resident graduate students to $6,789 and 8 percent for non-resident graduate students to $19,354. All proposed tuition levels must be approved by the Arizona Board of Regents at its December meeting.

With these tuition increases ASU would fund the following commitments:

For Undergraduate Students

• Financial aid programs that continue to ensure that a lack of family resources will not prevent enrollment at ASU or continued attendance for any qualified student in every case.
• Increase ASU’s programs to maintain a cutting-edge range of program options.
• Guarantee seats in all required courses in the sequence needed to ensure that all students so motivated can complete their undergraduate degree work in four years.
• Enhance advising infrastructure.
• Increase opportunities for exposure and involvement in research activities in a student’s field of study.
• Guarantee admission to master’s programs at ASU for any Arizona resident who meets specific requirements (excluding professional master’s degrees). Since admission to a specific master's degree program is dependent on various factors, a student may be offered admission to related master's programs.
• Expand career counseling, internships and placement services.
• Enhance access to health services.

For Graduate Students

• Increase fellowship opportunities.
• Improve training programs for teaching assistants.
• Increase travel funding.
• Increase financial aid.

A college education provides the foundation for a life with unparalleled career choices and job satisfaction, enhanced ability to understand and appreciate all of the cultural pleasures of life outside of work, and increased opportunity to contribute most productively to the civic enterprise. Higher education has the unique role of producing graduates who meet workforce needs that advance the region’s economic development and economic diversity. This is particularly important to the state of Arizona, which continues to attract hundreds of thousands of new residents each year, but has no control over the skill sets of its new residents. Public higher education allows the state to make adjustments to its workforce and enrich the human infrastructure supporting economic growth.

Fee Proposal

ASU student facilities (recreation, student health, student activities) are underdeveloped at each of the campuses, and program support for students is dramatically underfunded. ASU proposes an annual $150 increase in student programs and facilities fees in order to address these varied needs. In addition, ASU proposes to increase the technology fee to $100, an increase of $50 from the 2007-2008 academic year. This will bring the student fees to $350 per year. View the program fees.

Tuition Hearings

Tuition hearings are scheduled to take place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Nov. 29, at the following locations:

• Tempe campus, Old Main, Carson Ballroom.
• Polytechnic campus, Technology Center room 105.
• West campus, University Center room 265/266.
• Downtown Phoenix campus, University Center room 107.

Those who cannot attend the hearing can send their comments via e-mail to Stella Galaviz, Arizona Board of Regents, at stella.galaviz@azregents.edu or by regular mail, at 2020 N. Central Ave., Suite 230, Phoenix, AZ 85004, or by fax to (602) 229-2555. All comments received before Nov. 29 will be shared with the regents in advance of the Dec. 6 ABOR meeting.

To review specific differential tuition for school, program and course fee increases, visit the Your Tuition Web site: www.asu.edu/yourtuition.