Portland State students could see a 4.5 percent tuition hike next year if Oregon’s higher education board signs off on a recommendation from its finance committee.
Tuition spike looms
Portland State students could see a 4.5 percent tuition hike next year if Oregon’s higher education board signs off on a recommendation from its finance committee.
On Friday, the Oregon State Board of Higher Education’s finance and administration committee forwarded recommendations for tuition increases—averaging 4.8 percent across the Oregon University System—for the 2013–14 academic year.
The board will weigh the increases at its next meeting on June 21.
For PSU students, the increase would add up to $288 in tuition costs annually for a resident undergraduate student taking 15 credits per term.
This is the lowest increase of all the Oregon universities since the 2008–09 school year, compared to average increases of 6 percent in 2012–13 and 7.5 percent in 2011–12, an OUS press release said.
Next year’s tuition at the University of Oregon would reflect a 4.5 percent increase and the Oregon Institute of Technology is slated for a 6 percent tuition increase, if the recommendation is approved by the board without changes.
At the finance committee’s Friday meeting, Jan Lewis, the OUS assistant vice chancellor for budget operations, explained that recent legislation (that became law on April 2), including tuition equity, amendments to the tuition waiver for foster youth, and bills still in play that provide aid to veterans or their dependents that go beyond current programs in place contributed to the decision.
OUS enrollment has increased 17.2 percent over the last five years, while state enrollment funding decreased almost 35 percent, the release said. Retirement costs in the same period increased 15.2 percent and health care costs increased 16.4 percent, putting cost pressures on campuses that are not within their control, the release added.
