<p>I am addressing this message to anyone of which money is an issue in determining their college decision:</p>
<p>Arizona’s tuition rate for out of state students is increasing at a whopping rate of 15% per year! (in state is increasing at 9% per year) The tuition is expected to rise by this amount anually. They do not listen to public opinion that wishes to halt tuition raises! And since most of the scholarships that are offerered are set amounts per year, they are effectively “screwing” those of us that have tight financial budgets, and there is not much we can do about it. The tuition at Arizona is rising too rapidly for any financially responsible family to attend this school. I love it and would vouch for it, but soon enough it is going to be the same cost as going to a private school, and it is not worth the cost of a private school. I did not know any of this when I decided to go to U of A and am bitterly dissapointed (I seriously wish I had known this as I would not be at U of A now if I had). Make the responsible decision here, only come to U of A if money is not an issue, as tution is rising by about 2500 per year.</p>
<p>Yet for me, money is not an issue, so I still am going to UofA next year. Even it was an issue, compared to my second choice, Indiana University, UofA altogether is about 9 thousand cheaper a year.</p>
<p>Where did you hear that tuition is expected to rise by this amount anually? Historically that has not been the case. See page 31 of the UA Factbook:</p>
<p>By the way, tuition for 2007-2008 was $16058, a 7.3% increase over the previous year.</p>
<p>As you can see, OOS tuition has increased at an average anual rate of 7.7% for the last 5 years, 6.3% for the last 10 years and 6.5% for the last 20 years. </p>
<p>I think the administration will be killing the goose with the golden eggs if they increase tuition at a 15% rate year in and year out.</p>
<p>On the other hand, go on to page 32 of the same document. UA tuition, both instate and OOS is (or at least was, a year ago) one of the lowest in the country for a Public AAU institution. Even if tuition stays constant at the other schools (which is impossible) it would take UA another 15% increase to catch up with the middle of the pack.</p>
<p>I don't know what is the competitive model that UA uses when setting their OOS tuition, but I will not be surprised if the OOS tuition increase for the following few years is larger than the average increase at other Public AAU institutions, say 8 or 9%. The end game (say in 10 years) would be to achieve OOS tuition parity with other west coast schools outside of California, e.g. U of Washington, U of Oregon or U of Colorado at Boulder.</p>
<p>i know that the plan is to increase by 15% per year because it was stated in an arizona daily wildcat article an robert shelton is backing these increases. considering that shelton has not been at u of a long it makes perfect sense that there is no track record of increases like this but that they could be planned out for the future. I, for one, am very angry about these increases and would not simply make things like these up. I am a current student here, and i feel like my say is after the fact anyways. all i want to do is stop others from making the mistake i did.</p>
<p>and u of a is DEFINITELY about 12,000 cheaper than IU</p>
<p>My son is an OOS freshman at UA (from the NE) and I am as interested in seeing OOS tuition under control as you are.</p>
<p>I read the Daily Wildcat (Online Edition) regularly, but I don't remember seeing an article saying that tuition will continue to raise at this rate for the next few years.</p>
<p>I just Googled:</p>
<p>Shelton Tuition site:wildcat.arizona.edu</p>
<p>I found several articles about the 2008-2009 tuition, starting on 11/9/2007 when the new rates were announced, but none that says to expect a similar increase next year.</p>
<p>You are right that Shelton is a new president and his policies may not be the same as his predecessors, but I still can't believe that he can increase OOS tuition 15% year in and year out and still have any new OOS students coming to UA say 3 years from now.</p>
<p>Rest assure. I read an article a couple days ago about the arizona governor calling together the presidents of UofA, ASU and NAU and them discussing freezing tuition rates for each incoming class. It said Shelton was against it because he didnt think he would see any extra money from the state but he joined in anyways. Hopefully they will put together this new plan, and it seemed that they would since the governor was all for it.</p>
<p>just read that article. said that NAU and ASU were all for it, but what concerned me was that therewas no response from president shelton. i DO remember reading something to say that UA tuition would keep increasing, back when it all went down last december, but I can't seem to find the article online. i could have misinterpreted a line in my anger, or one of the writers could ahve misinterpreted something that was said. if anyone gets any new info on sheltons stance, please let me know. i would love freezing tuition rates, you have no idea.</p>
<p>With ASU increase the NMF scholarship to $23,000/yr. while UA stays at $20,000. The financial gap between attend ASU vs. UA for NMF is quite significant.</p>
<p>Looks like money for National Scholar Awards is getting tight. Not only has the Scholarship amount not increased in the last 3 years, but this notice was recently added for OOS National Hispanic Scholars:</p>
<p>"We are reserving 50 scholarships for non-Arizona resident National Hispanic Scholars in our fall 2008 freshman class. If you wish to compete for this scholarship, we encourage you to apply early, and upon admission to UA, submit your enrollment deposit as soon as possible."</p>
<p>yeah. that was explained in our last shadowcats meeting. apparently there were about 75 hispanic OOS scholars last semester, and they put a huge strain on the budget reserved for hispanic scholars, so the university, in order to keep the merit package at 20k, has to decrease the amount of scholarships given. also know that if you put down your deposit and decide to change your mind, the deposit is refundable up to a certain date.</p>
<pre><code>2006-2007: 92 National Merit Finalists, 49 National Hispanic Scholars and 3 National Achievement Finalists, for a total of 144 National Scholars.
2007-2008: 70 NMFs, 72 NHSs and 1 NAF, for a total of 143 National Scholars.
</code></pre>
<p>I would have to say that the excess of NHSs for 2007-2008 balanced out extremely well with the deficit of NMFs and NAFs and should not have put any strain on the National Scholars budget as a whole.</p>
<p>Now, if the UA does not consider all National Scholars to be created equal (and there is no reason they should) I can see why they would want to reserve their limited merit money to atract more NMFs instead of NHSs.</p>
<p>I'm bringing this thread back from the dead to say:</p>
<p>1) KidFromOhio, I don't think you still post around here but, in case you see this, I must say you were right and I was wrong. Pres. Sheldon just put in a request for an OOS tuition increase of 14.5% for 2009-2010. Of course many things have changed since last January and given the current economic climate I am just relieved the requested increase is not higher.</p>
<p>2) The UA has increased its OOS National Scholars award amount to $25K. They have also done away with the idea of "reserving 50 scholarships for non-Arizona resident National Hispanic Scholars", so a deal comparable to the one you and my son got is still available to new freshmen.</p>
<p>3) I just did the math and the National Scholars award will end up covering very close to my son's full tuition for 4 years. Not tuition and half room as we had expected, but not a bad deal at all.</p>
<p>My son is a NHS, receiving $20K/year. He is in his second year, and found that this amount covered tuition, fees, and books, with just a bit left over. Considering his travel expenses to and from CA, money is very tight for him this year.
He is applying for a transfer next year (to a UC), and most of his OOS friends (many on scholarship) are also planning to transfer. Life in Tucson is not what he expected, maybe because it is such a big city, with no defined "student area", compared to UCSB's Isla Vista or UC Davis.
I am happy to hear they have increased the amount of the award, as 20K will cover less and less as the tuition rises.</p>
<p>My daughter received a generous in-state scholarship but with tuition rising, it doesn't seem quite so wonderful. Does anyone know if U. of A. will bump up the scholarship offers for 2009 students now that tuition is increasing?</p>
<p>AFAIK, UA scholarships are fixed-amount. While the scholarship amount offered to freshmen varies from year to year, once a student enrolls their scholarship amount remains fixed for as long as they continue to receive it.</p>
<p>I know the amount is fixed (unlike my daughter in 2003 which received a tuition waiver that went up with tuition) but I wondered if the amounts the seniors are awarded now will be adjusted before Fall 2009 since tuition rates will be rising significantly from the amount it was when they applied.</p>
<p>SLM, the $25K is an increase over the offer for 2008 freshmen, which was $20K. The higher amount is listed on their website as being the award amount for Fall 2009.</p>