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TUCSON - President Robert N. Shelton today released the University of Arizona's recommendations to the Arizona Board of Regents for 2010-2011 tuition rates.

The recommendations align with the Arizona university system's goals to increase access to a high-quality university degree, ensure an educated workforce and improve the quality of life for Arizona's citizens and stimulate the economy through a successful research enterprise.

The proposed increases in tuition and mandatory fees will enable the University to continue providing a high-quality education to current and future students in spite of unprecedented decreases in state funding.

"We cannot diminish the quality of the UA nor curtail access to a UA education," Shelton said. "To do so would be contrary to our values and the system's values of access and quality."

Prior to issuing the recommendations, Shelton consulted with student and faculty leaders and several advisory groups throughout the UA campus.

Shelton sent a memo to the Arizona Board of Regents that included the following tuition and fee adjustments:

Tuition
The University's recommendation moves resident undergraduate tuition closer to the median of its peer universities. Base undergraduate tuition would be increased for Arizona residents by $1,450, to $7,224 for undergraduates, and to $8,014 for graduate students. For all non-resident students, tuition would rise by $2,000, to $22,983 for non-resident undergraduates and to $23,276 for non-resident graduate students.

Base tuition for UA South's in-state students would rise by $500 for undergraduates, to $5,453. UA South's in-state graduate students and all non-resident students would pay the same base tuition as their main campus peers.

Mandatory Fees
In addition to a new Campus Sustainability Fee of $24 and a Health and Recreation Fee of $306, Shelton has proposed an increase of $335 to the Library Information Fee.

In consultation with students, the fees will provide students with increased student access to digital information, enhance online learning, ensure adequate funding for the Campus Health Service and department of campus recreation and fund projects that will transform the UA campus into a leading model of environmental sustainability.

The University recommendation also makes permanent the tuition surcharge ($766 for Arizona residents; $966 for non-residents) that the Regents approved in the spring of 2009.

Arizona students and families will still find a UA education to be affordable because of the University's strong commitment to accessibility. Financial aid options for UA students include standard federal financial aid, the Arizona Financial Aid Trust,and financial aid generated by setting aside at least 17 percent of tuition revenues. Thanks to the significant investment in institutional funds in financial aid, 54 percent of in-state undergraduate students graduated with no debt and their average student debt has remained flat over the past several years.

The average tuition paid by an in-state undergraduate student last year was $1,977, about a third the published tuition and fee rates.

In addition, the UA maintains its commitment to Arizona Assurance, a financial and academic aid program that offers four years of debt-free education to select Arizona residents who meet the UA's admissions requirements and come from a home with an adjusted gross income of $42,400 or less.

Arizona Assurance offers Arizonans, by far, the most inclusive and sweeping commitment to cover all costs of enrollment and guarantee academic aid in order to educate and graduate more Arizona residents.

"Our students know their UA education is a remarkable value, and they know they can also find financial support in order to attain their educational goals," Shelton said.

The fiscal reality of the current economic environment requires the University to invest increased tuition resources into the quality education Arizona students and families expect.

As part of its contribution to the Arizona university system architecture redesign, the UA will increase enrollment productivity through program expansion at UA South and other sites (including community college partnerships) and alternate delivery mechanisms. The Arizona Pathways Initiative, which will include UA South, will offer select, quality educational programs at a differentiated, lower tuition.

The UA's general fund allocation has been cut by approximately $100 million, which places the University's state funding below FY2006 levels. Through the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, about $60 million in temporary funding has prevented more widespread reductions to academic and student support programs.

The proposed tuition and fee increases will address part of the current shortfall, which does not account for any future reductions in state funding.

In 2008, the UA initiated a process to reorganize the University in a way that would position the institution for improved collaboration to meet the challenges of the future.

Through the Transformation Plan, the UA has sought to improve access and quality, reduce administrative costs and to diminish institutional barriers hampering collaborative work among the faculty.

Among the organizational changes as a result of the Transformation Plan:

* Sixteen departments have been reorganized into eight departments.
* Also, 35 departments and units now form 11 schools.
* Four colleges were combined as a partnership to form the Colleges of Letters, Arts, and Science.
* A total of 24 academic programs have closed and another nine have merged.
* A budget redesign process was initiated, which will add further transparency to the development of future budgets.

The Transformation Plan drew heavily on guidance from the faculty, involving hundreds of faculty members via Faculty Senate and the Strategic Planning and Budget Advisory Committee in advancing proposals for program mergers and eliminations.