The University of Tennessee system, hampered by millions in budget cuts, will push for the most aggressive tuition hike in recent years when its board meets to set the statewide budget next week.
If approved, the proposal would drive up tuition costs at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and UT Martin by 8.5 percent, generating nearly $20 million in additional revenue.
"Jobs are on the line, and classes on the line," said Hank Dye, a spokesman for the UT system. "We're doing everything we can to minimize that."
Still, while UT system and UTC officials argue campuses can't survive without the additional revenue, some UTC students say they are uneasy about seeing costs climb year after year.
UTC junior Nick Friend, who is paying for school through government loans, said he sees the tuition increase as a financial setback.
"The more I am paying, the longer it will take me to pay off my loans," he said. "It is a lot of money to shell out. It's very worrying to me."
Hundreds of UT jobs statewide are being paid for with federal stimulus dollars, which were given to campuses to help offset the state cuts that have deepened over the last few years because of falling state tax revenue. Next year, the system is approaching an estimated $112 million budget shortfall. UTC's share of that is $13.2 million, officials said.
This year's tuition increase follows a 7 percent increase on the UTC and UT Martin campuses last fall and a 9 percent increase on the UT campus. UTC had lobbied for a 9 percent increase last year but was rebuffed by state leaders.
Richard Brown, UTC's vice chancellor for finance and operations, said he is glad that tuition increases are equal this time around.
UTC TUITION COSTS* 2010: $5,656 per year in-state* 2011: $6,040 per year in-state (proposed)INCREASES BY YEARFall 2006 -- 4.1 percent increaseFall 2007 -- 6 percent increaseFall 2008 -- 6 percent increaseFall 2009 -- 7 percent increaseFall 2010 -- 8.5 percent increase (proposed)Source: UTC
Tuition increases will generate $3.3 million at UTC this year, and $2.5 million of that will go toward academic affairs and replacing tenure-track positions that have been removed in the last four years, Dr. Brown said.
"What this does for UTC is financially rebalance the university for the second year," he said. "It allows us to invest in the academic and instructional components of the university."
Although system officials are proposing an across-the-board tuition jump, tuition revenues still will be highest at UT this year. On top of the 8.5 percent increase to their baseline tuition, students in engineering, nursing and business on the Knoxville campus will pay a higher tuition rate, a move approved earlier this year.
"We are trying the best we can to prepare for the ultimate cliff in 2012," when federal stimulus dollars dry up, Mr. Dye said.
In the last decade, the UT system has changed the way it supports itself. State appropriations as a percentage of total revenues have declined from 53 percent of UT's total budget in 2002 to 49 percent of the total budget this year.
At the same time, tuition and fees climbed as part of overall revenues, making up 28 percent of the budget in 2002 and now reaching 39 percent, budget documents show.
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