Another tution increase in Texas....

Parents Forum
1

<p>Just sharing some information from our local paper on tuition increases. </p>

<p>Texas tuition is still a bargain for in state. However, since deregulation of tuition, there have been some hefty increases. The worst was 37% at UT Austin in 2004-2005, which was sheer sticker shock, especially for those kids who are trying to work their way through college.</p>

<p>This year's percentages are not as bad as that but range from an increase of 7.3% up to 19.7%, These figures are for the UT system but Tx A & M schools also went up. </p>

<p>
[quote]
UT - Austin, +9.4% to $3815</p>

<p>UT - Arlington, +10% to $3250</p>

<p>UT Brownsville, +12.8% to $2188</p>

<p>UT Dallas, +7.3% to $3665</p>

<p>UT ElPaso, +7.7% t0 $2632</p>

<p>UT Pan American, +19.7% to $2080</p>

<p>UT Permian Basin, +9% to $2260</p>

<p>UT SanAntonio, +11.6% to $3093</p>

<p>UT Tyler, +8.6% to $2336

[/quote]
</p>

<p>University of Houston is also meeting next week to decide between a 9.9% and a 13% increase. </p>

<p>There are perhaps two things that can help put this in some perspective. It's my understanding that there's a program in effect to cover any tuition increases for those with family incomes under $40,000, but no help if you make more than that. At the same time, state funding for higher ed has hit a 25-year low. See <a href="http://college.enotes.com/college-news/higher-ed-shrinking%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://college.enotes.com/college-news/higher-ed-shrinking&lt;/a>
It makes one wonder how long these double digit increases will continue.</p>

2

<p>We are one of those families that actually benefit when TX tuition goes up (not that we are cheering for it!). Having purchased the "Texas Tomorrow Fund" when our kids were in 2nd and 4th grade (the first year TX offered it), everytime TX tuition goes up, we are reimbursed more towards the out of state private schools we are paying for. It was a great investment! Too bad the closed the program a few years back. Tuition was going up so fast that "locking in today's prices" cost the state too much to continue to offer it to families.</p>

3

<p>Just a small note ... the quoted numbers are for tuition only and for one semester only. The annual cost of attending a UT school is much higher.</p>

4

<p>Actually, those numbers are for tuition and fees per semester, so the cost is not much higher unless you are referring to room and board.</p>

5

<p>Well, if you operate by the philosophy that taxes are always too high and must always be cut, the money has to come from somewhere. And college students are a pretty easy target. 1981 - the base year cited in the article - is about the time that the lower taxes/bigger piece of the income and wealth pie for the extremely wealthy trend started. This is just one of many data points. Expect more of the same in the future.</p>

6

<p>Kcirsh, yes the COA (or COE) to which I referred includes room, board, books, and personal expenses. </p>

<p>For example, here are the costs for last year at the B School:</p>

<p>Resident On Campus (Long Semester)
Tuition/Fees 3,856
Books 400
Room/Board 3,819
Transportation 425
Personal/Misc. 1,075
Total 9,575</p>

<p><a href="http://finaid.utexas.edu/costs/050/biz.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://finaid.utexas.edu/costs/050/biz.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>