The Utah Board of Higher Education voted Friday to approve tuition increases at several Utah colleges and universities following a year-long tuition freeze imposed by Gov. Spencer Cox.
The University of Utah, Utah Valley University, Utah State University, Weber State University, Southern Utah University, Utah Tech University, Salt Lake Community College and Snow College all requested to increase their tuition and fees for the upcoming academic year.
Most schools’ tuition increases settled at around 3.4%. Weber State had the smallest tuition and fee increase based on percentages, increasing tuition by 2.75% or about $150.
Salt Lake Community College had the biggest requested increase in tuition and fees, asking to raise tuition by 4% and raise fees by more than 12%. The board instead voted to approve tuition and fee increases of about 4% each.
Utah State University requested a tuition increase of 3.4% with more than two-thirds of that increase going toward legislative match funding. The tuition increase will also go toward funding faculty promotion and tenure and maintaining scholarship support for students.
USU’s 1.68% student fee increase will apply only to its Logan campus, supporting the replacement and maintenance of equipment at the student recreation center, new transportation and shuttle buses for better ADA compliance and additional funding for athletics.
USU sophomore JT Miller said he supports some of the fee increases since they’re going toward programs that improve the student experience.
“I would be okay, paying a little more for that, because I use the Aggie Shuttle a lot. I use it to come up here to campus, and it just makes things easier,” he said.
He said the tuition increase is a little intimidating, but if the funds are used correctly it could benefit the university and the students, "A lot of us here — we're college students struggling with money. So I think just initially hearing that our tuition is going to increase is kind of a little scary. And then even though it's only like 3%, it's still going to be a lot more money.”
The approved tuition increase for USU will raise tuition and fees by $254 next year.
