The University of Texas System Board of Regents approved UT Tyler’s tuition increases for fall 2006 and fall 2007 at a recent meeting, President Rodney H. Mabry announced.

UT Tyler students taking 15 semester credit hours will see a $211, or 9.9 percent, increase in tuition and mandatory fees beginning fall 2006, and a $175, or 7.5 percent, increase in tuition and mandatory fees for fall 2007.

“UT Tyler’s tuition and required fees are well below the state average. In fact, only eight of the 35 Texas public universities have tuition rates lower than UT Tyler. We are requesting modest increases for Fall 2006 and Fall 2007; however, even with an increase our tuition will remain below the state average,” President Mabry said.   

UT Tyler’s increases will partially address the more than $12 million needed to meet university strategic goals and objectives created by the university’s rapid enrollment growth.

UT Tyler has experienced a 111 percent enrollment increase since 1997, and state funding has not been able to keep pace with that growth. The proposed tuition increases will generate only the most critically needed portion of the revenue needed, about $2.5 million the first year, according to President Mabry.

“We arrived at this tuition plan after careful analysis and broad campus discussion with students, faculty and staff. Our state general revenue funding per full-time student has fallen nearly $750 from last biennium. Next fall’s tuition increase will replace only $211 per student, and we will find economies and efficiencies to keep a UT Tyler education affordable without sacrificing quality,” he added.

The new revenue generated from the impending increases will allow the University to hire faculty to support emerging academic programs such as civil engineering, construction management and the future doctoral programs in nursing and human resource development. Additional faculty also are needed in various academic areas to provide more course sections and maintain acceptable class sizes. The university also must respond to volatile energy costs.

Classroom technology will be enhanced to support state-of-the-art learning environments. Strategic priorities concerning the Robert R. Muntz Library include increasing the hours of operation, computer access and library holdings.

UT Tyler also plans to use new revenue to increase the institutional merit scholarship budget and add staff to administer emerging enrollment management programs.

Previous tuition increases have allowed the university to add an academic advising center for freshmen. This year, a Supplemental Instruction program was created to provide academic support for students in chemistry, calculus, physics and statistics courses.
UT Tyler has hired more than 40 faculty, added 40 academic course sections and installed wireless Internet campuswide. The Muntz Library has installed wireless Internet, an integrated library system and currently has 60 computers, including 30 laptops, available for student use.
 
To date, $452,132 of tuition revenue has been devoted to financial aid.

As an example, the Funding Your Success Program, which began with the fall 2005 increase, continues to offer financial incentives to qualified students.

One of the 15 campuses of the UT System, UT Tyler offers excellence in teaching, research, artistic performance and community service.  More than 70 undergraduate and graduate degree programs are available at UT Tyler, which has an enrollment of more than 5,800 high-ability students at its campuses in Tyler, Longview and Palestine.