UT Tyler logo The University of Texas at Tyler

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT TYLER

December 1, 2005
Dr. Teresa A. Sullivan
Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
The University of Texas System
601 Colorado Street
Austin, TX 78701-2982

Dear Dr. Sullivan,

We request that the following proposal for tuition and required fee increases for the next two academic years, FY07 and FY08, at The University of Texas at Tyler (UT Tyler) be placed on the agenda for consideration at the February 2006 meeting of The University of Texas System Board of Regents. This proposal is being submitted in accordance with the guidelines and principles you provided on September 27, 2005.

UT Tyler Tuition and Required Fee Increase Proposal

TUITION

It is proposed that tuition at UT Tyler be increased effective Fall 2006:

    Current Rate Proposed Rate Fall 06
Statutory Tuition All $50 per SCH $50 per SCH*
Designated Tuition Undergrad $65 per SCH $75 per SCH
  Grad $76 per SCH $86 per SCH
  * Per Texas Education Code  


Assuming approval of the preceding recommendation for Fall 2006, it is further proposed that tuition at UT Tyler be increased effective Fall 2007:

    Then Current Rate Proposed Rate Fall 07

Statutory Tuition

All $50 per SCH $50 per SCH*
Designated Tuition Undergrad $75 per SCH $85 per SCH
  Grad $86 per SCH $96 per SCH
  * Per Texas Education Code  

* Per Texas Education Code

REQUIRED FEES

It is proposed that the following required fees at UT Tyler be increased effective Fall 2006:

    Current Rate Rate Fall 06
Basic Computer Access Fee   $54 $100
Automated Services Fee (Library)   $15 $30

Assuming approval of the preceding recommendation for Fall 2006, it is further proposed that the following required fees at UT Tyler be increased effective Fall 2007:

    Then Current Rate Rate Fall 07
Basic Computer Access Fee   $100 $125
Athletics Fee   $7 per SCH ($105 max) $10 per SCH ($150 max)*
  *Subject to affirmative student vote  

Due to a highly volatile natural gas market, UT Tyler also requests the authority to add an energy surcharge for natural gas of up to $40 per student per semester, but only if actual conditions dictate such action. At currently projected prices, UT Tyler could face additional utility costs of more than $600,000 per year next year.

We note that UT Tyler has historically been well below the statewide average in the amounts charged for tuition and required fees (9 th lowest out of 35 public institutions). Of particular note is that information technology fees have been among the lowest of any public senior college or university in Texas. Even with the proposed increases in tuition and required fees, we expect UT Tyler’s total tuition and required fees to remain below the statewide average, assuming other institutions implement increases.

UT Tyler has a great need to raise tuition because of its Texas-leading rate of growth and state funding that, while larger this biennium, did not increase enough to keep pace with the University’s steep rate of growth. UT Tyler pledges to be able to keep tuition and required fees at the levels proposed herein for two additional years, i.e., with no further increases for the next two academic years, FY09 and FY10, if State support for operations per FTE student at UT Tyler for the next biennium (FY08 and FY09) rises enough to equal the level of State support for operations per FTE student that UT Tyler had at the start of the previous biennium (FY04) which was $5,348 per FTE student, as compared to the $4,839 per FTE student for operations at the start of the current biennium (FY06).


FINANCIAL IMPACT ON STUDENTS

It is important to note that UT Tyler will be implementing two new required fees Spring 2006, namely a $35 per student Medical Services Fee and a $100 per student Student Union Fee. Both fees were overwhelmingly approved by a student referendum and were formally approved by The University of Texas System Board of Regents.

A relevant and accurate measure of our proposed increase, in our opinion, is to compare the proposed increases in tuition and required fees to Spring 2006 levels, inclusive of the two new required fees. When compared to Spring 2006 levels, the proposed increases in tuition and required fees effective Fall 2006 will result in an increase of approximately 9.3%, or $211 per semester, for an undergraduate student taking a full load of 15 semester credit hours. For that same student, the proposed increases in tuition and required fees effective Fall 2007 will result in an additional increase of 8.9%, or $220 per semester.

However, when compared strictly to Fall 2005 levels, the proposed increases in tuition and required fees effective Fall 2006 will result in an increase of 16.3%, or $346 per semester, for an undergraduate student taking a full load of 15 SCH. For that same student, the proposed increases in tuition and required fees, effective Fall 2007, will result in the same second-year increase of 8.9%, or $220 per semester, noted earlier.


FINANCIAL BENEFIT FOR UT TYLER

Assuming continued growth and resulting enrollments occur, the proposed increases in tuition and required fees will generate approximately $2.5 million in new revenue (net of mandated set-asides) in FY07 and an additional $2.0 million in FY08. The increase in the first year generates only 21% of the $12 million new revenue needed for the first year as projected in UT Tyler’s recent Growth Capacity Study. It is obvious that the proposed increases will only begin to solve the very real challenge UT Tyler faces.

Background and Discussion:

UT Tyler received broad guidance on tuition and required fee increases from UT System on September 27, 2005. Shortly thereafter, a Tuition Policy Council was appointed, with broad representation from across the campus, to review and make a recommendation concerning the need for tuition and required fee increases for the FY07-FY08 academic years. The Council met during the months of October and November. Four town hall meetings were conducted on the Tyler, Longview and Palestine campuses to receive and incorporate input from the campus community, especially students, into the final recommendations.

The work of the Council was framed largely by a number of challenging budget realities facing UT Tyler. These budget realities are:

As in the past, UT Tyler will use any new revenue derived from the proposed tuition and fee increases to address the following important strategic goals and objectives:


Specific Uses of New Funds:

UT Tyler will use new revenue, effective Fall 2006, to address the following specific strategic priorities:

Academic Affairs

Business Affairs

Student Affairs and External Relations

Other

In your guidance of September 27, you stated that there were five core principles that tuition and required fee proposals must reflect. Accordingly, we offer the following comments for your consideration:

Cost savings are critically important to keeping tuition and fee charges affordable.

UT Tyler is committed to reducing operating costs wherever it is possible without sacrificing quality. One major cost saving measure will be increased emphasis on energy conservation. UT Tyler will comply fully with the recent Executive Order by Governor Perry and will redouble efforts to establish a purchasing consortium for natural gas. During the upcoming year, several other cost saving measures will be evaluated, including (1) raising building temperatures in summers and reducing temperatures in winter, (2) reducing unproductive institutional memberships in professional organizations, (3) making more efficient use of printing/copier resources, (4) assessing on-line payroll profile, (5) making direct payroll deposit mandatory and not cutting checks, and (6) modifying our student refund process to reduce costs. UT Tyler is also outsourcing its food services program, resulting in long-term cost reductions as well as revenue enhancement. As a part of this effort, an existing, underutilized space on campus will be redeveloped to serve as a temporary dining facility with significant cost savings when compared with new construction.

Any proposed increases in tuition and fees should be limited to the amount necessary to provide a quality education.

UT Tyler is committed to keeping tuition and required fee increases at the lowest possible level consistent with achieving strategic goals and objectives and maintaining high quality curricular and co-curricular programs. The recommended increases will provide only a portion (approximately 21%) of the needs identified in the recently updated UT Tyler Growth Capacity Study so UT Tyler will continue to work tirelessly to garner and sustain funding support from UT System, the State Legislature, contract/grant funding agencies and private donors.

Tuition and fee policies should emphasize predictability; students and parents should have as much information as possible to estimate costs over a four-year undergraduate education.

UT Tyler is committed to providing predictability for parents and students. The recommended increases will be fixed for two academic years and will be thoroughly publicized using all available media.

Proposals must show how tuition and fee policies relate to and support other strategic goals.

Based on the aforementioned strategic priorities for any new revenue generated by the recommended increases in tuition and required fees, UT Tyler is confident that it will sustain its current momentum toward achieving its strategic goals an objectives, with emphasis on continued growth in enrollment, improved student retention, improved graduation rates, more efficient use of facilities and higher quality academic programs and student activities.

Proposals must include an overview of financial aid services available to assist students.

While it is not possible to state actual amounts with specificity due to numerous variables, institutional scholarships will be increased in the FY07-FY08 academic years. Mandated set-asides from increases in designated tuition will provide additional resources in excess of $250,000 each year for the following financial aid programs:

Pertaining to the last program mentioned above, UT Tyler offers students a rebate incentive to enroll in courses scheduled on the weekend (defined as noon Friday through Sunday). The program has the dual goal of speeding time to graduation while increasing utilization and operating efficiencies of existing facilities. A student receives a $100 rebate on tuition for each 3-credit weekend course completed with a grade of C or better. The rebate is prorated for courses of less than 3 credits.

After one year of implementation, the efficacy of the program in shifting enrollments to off-peak hours is encouraging but not clear. In the first academic year of the program, 2004-05, the number of students enrolled in weekend courses was 618 compared to 518 in 2003-04. A total of $32,722 in rebates was paid to students. The increase in weekend course enrollments was greater than the overall enrollment increase for the same period. The average enrollment in a weekend course section increased from 10 to 10.8 students during the year. This program will continue to be monitored and evaluated.

UT Tyler did consider several possible innovative options, including differential designated tuition by program, differential designated tuition for out-of-state students, differential designated tuition for emerging PhD programs, flat-rate tuition, and guaranteed four-year tuition. It was determined these strategies are not appropriate for our situation at this time. However, we will be analyzing these strategies in greater detail and, depending on the outcome of the next regular session of the Texas Legislature, we may decide to return to one or more of these strategies if we determine it would help us achieve our strategic goals and objectives.

In closing, we believe the proposed tuition and required fee increases for the FY07-FY08 academic years at UT Tyler are both reasonable and justified. We believe that our proposal incorporates the three fundamental characteristics required by UT System, namely a consultative process, an open and transparent process, and a process that emphasizes frugality.

Your support of our proposal will be sincerely appreciated. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Rodney H. Mabry
President

Brief Data Appendices Attached

Cc: President’s Council
Tuition Policy Council
Faculty Senate
University Staff Advisory Council
Student Government Association

 

 

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