Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Texas Senate passes bill to limit tuition increases
By Mohini Madgavkar
Daily Texan, U. Texas
May 05, 2009

Caps on tuition increases are one step closer to taking effect, thanks to the state Senate’s unanimous passage of a comprehensive tuition regulation bill Monday.

The bill, introduced by state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, would cap increases in the total academic cost of attending a Texas public college at 5 percent per year or the average of three years’ consumer price indices — whichever figure is lower.

For a state resident entering the University of Texas next fall, the average tuition cost hovers at about $4,500 for a full load of courses. Under the new legislation, tuition costs could not exceed $4,725 for the 2010 freshman class. In 2003, the year tuition deregulation was enacted, entering freshmen paid $2,094 per semester.

The UT System Board of Regents raised tuition by 4.5 percent for the 2009-2010 school year.

Zaffirini said the bill balanced student finances with university budget requirements by shifting the burden of increasing costs away from students.

“This [bill] would provide financial relief to college students and their families while recognizing the shared responsibility of the Legislature and higher education institutions to keep college affordable and accessible without sacrificing excellence,” Zaffirini said.

The bill also links total academic costs for all institutions to legislative appropriations and authorizes the Legislature to lower the gap in the event of increased general revenue appropriations. The bill does not authorize higher education institutions to raise the cap — if a university exceeds it, the Legislature could cut its general revenue funding.

“This is intended to pressure the Legislature to keep tuition down by funding higher education appropriately,” Zaffirini said,

General revenue funding is a shrinking portion of UT’s budget. In 2009, the Legislature funded 16 percent of the University’s total $2 billion budget — about $323 million. Tuition payments covered $491 million. Historically, the Legislature has provided as much as half of the University’s total budget.

Zaffirini said lawmakers have been trying unsuccessfully to reach a consensus on tuition reform since 2006. The complex bill submitted to the Legislature on Monday represented the collective opinions of more than 27 state senators, who initially proposed a variety of measures, including four-year freezes and a return to legislative control of tuition rates.

The bill contains an optional provision for a four-year freeze; institutions that elect to freeze tuition for the length of a freshman’s four-year career would not be subject to the cap until 2010.

The bill also changes the language surrounding the 20 percent set-aside in tuition revenue dedicated to financial aid and “expresses the Legislature’s intent to develop a six-year plan for replacing with general revenue the 20 percent financial [aid] set-aside for tuition increases over $6 per credit hour.”

Essentially, if the Legislature appropriates enough revenue to fund the amount, colleges will discontinue the provision but retain the option to continue it if the Legislature cannot provide the funds.

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