Regents approve tuition, fee hikes for state universities

Wichita State and other universities across Kansas will be held to a 3.6 percent tuition and fee increase set by the Kansas Board of Regents.

The regents approved the increase Thursday, upholding a tuition cap set by the Kansas Legislature and extending that 3.6 percent cap to fees as well.

The historically long legislative session put universities and the regents in a time crunch to set tuition rates. Classes start in two months.

“We’re really under the gun since the (legislative) session ended so recently,” regent Fred Logan said during the meeting.

Initially, Wichita State requested about a 5 percent total increase in tuition and fees.

But now the university will have to comb through its internal allocations and reprioritize, said Tony Vizzini, WSU provost and vice president of academic affairs.

Wichita State planned to use some of the additional money to provide 2 percent pay raises for some faculty and enhancements to technology, according to Lou Heldman, WSU vice president for strategic communication.

“There’s not necessarily funds available to do that (now),” Vizzini said. “But if enrollment does better than expected or other things materialize, it’s something we could revisit midyear.”

“We still have to pay the bills.”

The new tuition and fees will total $3,763 a semester for a undergraduate student from Kansas taking 15 credit hours. That’s an increase of $130.80 per semester over last year. The increase goes into effect this fall.

The university initially proposed higher fees, but now several of those proposals have been reduced. Now WSU plans:

▪ An online course fee increase from $75 per credit hour to $92 per credit hour. Of that increase, $9 would go to the general student fee budget, $3 to the Intercollegiate Athletic Association, and $5 to the online education budget. The fee was not subject to the cap because it’s not mandatory, Vizzini said.

▪ An Intercollegiate Athletic fee increase from $9.55 per credit hour to $10.02 per credit hour. The increase would help offset the implementation of NCAA allowances for student athletes to have additional scholarships for things like attendance, meal plans and travel expenses.

▪ A new technology fee of 50 cents per credit hour to go toward technology upgrades and replacement.

▪ A new transportation fee of 25 cents per credit hour to offset the campus shuttle service. According to information provided by the university, it spends $765,199 annually on Overland Charter, the contractor for the shuttle system.

President raises

University presidents at the regents schools will receive a 2 percent increase in base salary. Because Emporia State has an interim president, that position will not receive the pay increase.

WSU President John Bardo has a base salary of $350,175, according to the regents. With the increase, his salary will go up to $357,178.

“It’s certainly a prudent and reasonable amount,” Logan said. “We want to keep you (the presidents) at the market rates and keep it very competitive.”

Other proposals

One proposal by WSU that was accepted by the regents was to offer 150 percent in-state tuition rates to all residents of Oklahoma and Texas. The university currently has a policy to allow students from Nebraska and Missouri to receive 150 percent in-state tuition, Vizzini said.

However, the university’s proposal to allow those in the Tulsa and Oklahoma City metro areas to receive in-state tuition rates has been delayed by the regents.

Bardo also proposed professional development courses with varying, “market-based” tuition rates. He told the regents that the university has experimented with short courses aimed at nontraditional students and working adults.

The idea would include adjustable tuition rates for different outside groups seeking for-credit courses, Vizzini said.

“If there is a company that is out there and they’d like to do a for-credit course, we are bound to charge only the tuition that we can charge even though there can be additional desire and availability of funds. So if there are some courses, especially in the engineering area, where we could offer high-level, for-credit courses to their benefit, we’re leaving money on the table,” he said.

“So this allows us to adjust the tuition up or down to meet what the market has.”

The university, Bardo told the regents, is in preliminary negotiations with an agency that would like to receive credit hours for what are now noncredit programs. He envisions that the program, if accepted, could become a national program and part of distance education.

“This has real implications for enrollment,” he said. “We’re talking as many as 400 to 500 people that could be affected by this.”

The university’s enrollment has hovered around 15,000 for years.

The regents decided to defer discussion on “market-based” tuition until the fall.

This story was originally published June 18, 2015 at 7:23 PM with the headline "Regents approve tuition, fee hikes for state universities."