UConn opened a new 191,000-square foot Student Recreation Center on August 26, funded by new mandatory student fees.
Photo: Liz Teitz
Photo: Liz Teitz
UConn board approves tuition increase
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The University of Connecticut’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a tuition increase that will raise the price by 4 percent next year and by 23 percent over the next five years.
The proposal calls for increasing tuition by $3,214 over that time, in incremental annual increases ranging from $608 in 2020 to $679 in 2024. Officials said the plan is necessary “to protect academic quality, in the face of rising costs.”
“We are talking about raising tuition. Why is that? It ‘s our responsibility to protect what we’ve built,” Executive Vice President for Administration and Chief Financial Officer Scott Jordan said, citing the school’s rising national reputation and the higher academic qualifications of incoming students.
UConn administrators have touted the increase as the lowest in recent years. In-state rates have increased by at least $600 every year since 2014, and by $950 from 2018 to 2019. Out-of-state tuition has increased by more than $1,000 each year for the last three years, including by $1,250 last year.
Tuition at UConn has increased every year since 2010. In-state students now pay $13,798, which 70 percent more than they did 10 years ago. Out-of-state students paid $24,528 in tuition 10 years ago; that cost has risen by 48 percent to $36,466. Fees have also climbed in that time by more than $1,000.
UConn expects to increase its institutional financial aid budget from $123 million this year to $130 million next year, Jordan said.
Officials said the tuition increase is necessary due to declines in state funding and rising costs, including from fringe benefits.
“We are more reliant on tuition now than we ever have been, and less reliant on state support,” Jordan said.
While UConn has received “strong support” compared to universities in other states, “it is volatile,” he said. “UConn state supports trend right along with the health of the state budget. It’s gone sort of up and down with the budget cycle, but the swings can be dramatic.”
The State Block Grant to the university has averaged about $214 million per year since the 2010 fiscal year, Jordan said. This year’s budgeted block grant is about $14 million less than that. Just under half of UConn employee salaries are funded from that grant, which has fallen “that last peak,” $240 million in 2016.
The cost of fringe benefits has increased from $158.2 million in 2011 to $337 million in 2020, and the share paid by UConn has grown from 39 percent to 50 percent in that time, the university said.
Most items in the budget have been “relatively flat,” with the exception of fringe benefits, Jordan said.
The $608 increase to next year’s tuition includes $387 for inflation, calculated from the Higher Education Price Index, $121 to cover fringe benefits costs, and a flat $100 increase.
Tuition for in-state students in the fall will be $14,406, while the full price for out-of-state students will be $37,074.
Storrs students currently pay $3,428 in mandatory fees, and the average cost of housing is about $13,258, and students at regional campuses pay about $840 in fees.
Officials chose to increase the out-of-state rate by the same amount as in-state tuition to remain competitive for out-of-state students, Jordan said.
Students interviewed on campus last week said the cost of tuition was a major factor in their decision to attend UConn. Jordan said that for in-state students, UConn is still “a real bargain.”