Kansas increases university tuition

TOPEKA, Kan. -- Students will pay between 9.8 and 21.1 percent more per semester to attend a state university, the Kansas Board of Regents decided Thursday.

It's the second significant increase in tuition in as many years.

Regents approved the tuition rates, a day after discussing a report showing Kansas lagging behind some schools in the region in state support of higher education.

Regents expressed concern that students and parents would be asked to carry more of the burden of keeping Kansas' six state universities open.

"Some in the Statehouse are pleased they can avoid a tax increase, yet this tuition increase is no less than a tax increase on the parents and students of Kansas," said Regent Lew Ferguson, of Topeka.

Last August, Gov. Bill Graves reduced higher education funding by $44 million as the state struggled with falling revenues. Little of that money was restored by the 2003 Legislature, despite pleas from advocates for a tax increase.

As approved, tuition for in-state residents will increase for the fall 2003 semester at Fort Hays State by 9.8 percent; Emporia State, 16 percent; Wichita State, 18.8 percent; Kansas State, 20.3 percent; the University of Kansas, 20.7 percent; and Pittsburg State, 21.1 percent.

"As a parent of a college student, the impact of this decision hits very close to home," said Regent Donna Shank of Liberal. "These are state-funded schools, yet each year the state's contribution covers less and less of their overall operational expenses."

A consultant's report said Kansas would need to spend an additional $197.4 million in the current fiscal year, which ends Monday, for the state to spend the same proportion of its general revenues on universities, community colleges and vocational colleges as it did in 1990.

The report was commissioned by Citizens for Higher Education Inc., a business and civic advocacy group whose aim is to get more funding for the state's schools.

Kansas has not been alone in raising tuition. The governors of the University of Missouri system approved increasing in-state tuition by 19.8 percent to offset cuts in higher education.

In Nebraska, tuition will increase by 15 percent this fall and an additional 12 percent for the fall 2004 for in-state and nonresident, undergraduate and graduate students.

Regents approved tuition increases of as much as 25 percent in 2002. The additional revenue was earmarked to improve campuses during the next five years. However, university officials have been allowed to use some of the additional revenue to replace money cut by legislators.

Shank said it was difficult to approve raising tuition at a time when the economy is taking its toll on families and students. She doesn't think legislators will quickly restore the cuts made in tough times when the good budget times return.

Kansas Provost David Shulenburger said tuition increases for out-of-state students, in particular during the 1990s, reduced the number of students on campus. Out-of-state students once represented about 40 percent of the enrollment, but the figure is now closer to 30 percent.

--------

On the Net:

Board of Regents: http://www.kansasregents.org/