Today the Board of Regents of the University of Colorado approved a tuition and mandatory fees guarantee for resident students at the University of Colorado Boulder by a vote of 7-2.
Beginning fall semester 2016 and fall semester 2017, incoming freshmen will see a one-time increase of up to 5 percent in their tuition and mandatory fees, which will then remain locked for four years. Incoming freshmen in the fall of 2018 and 2019 will see a one-time increase of up to 4 percent in their tuition and mandatory fees, which will then remain locked at that rate for four years.
“We are working hard to create predictability for students and parents, as well as for the campus administration to allow them to know what they will have to work with on more than a year-by-year basis,” said Regent Steve Bosley.
The Regents approved the new tuition model to address resident tuition and mandatory fee increases for the next four years. Each entering freshman class will see a one-time increase in tuition and mandatory fees with a lock on that tuition and fees for the next four years. If a student takes an additional year to finish, the tuition rate for the fifth year would increase to the level of tuition and mandatory fees that the following freshman class of that student’s class is paying.
“We believe this changes the conversation by shifting the burden of managing the risk of major swings in the economy from the students and their families to the university,” said CU-Boulder Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano. “It also allows current high school students to plan for what the cost of tuition will be at CU-Boulder for the year when they will enter.”
Resident sophomores and juniors in 2016-2017 will also benefit from this new model. They will receive the one-time increase in tuition and mandatory fees that the freshman will receive along with the guarantee of no change for four years.
“The students like this model because it gives extra benefit to current students by having a little longer to finish if they need it,” said CUSG Finance Board Chair Wyatt Ryder. “CUSG carefully considered the two proposals, and we felt that the guarantee was the best option. It passed unanimously. This also allows families that might not be considering college, because it is too much of an unknown, to actually consider it.”
Ryder and Haelena Bondi-Camacho, vice chair of the CUSG Finance Board, attended the meeting and testified in support of the tuition guarantee for resident students.
Students who are seniors in the fall of 2016 will see only a 3 percent increase in tuition and mandatory fees for their fourth year. If they need a fifth year starting in the fall of 2017, the tuition will increase to match the increase that all other current students received in the fall of 2016, and then remain locked for an additional three years.
“We thought that seniors, being close to graduation, should get a lower rate in recognition of the progress they have made, but with a plan if they need more time,” said Kelly Fox, CU-Boulder senior vice chancellor and chief financial officer.
Non-resident tuition for both graduate and undergraduate students will increase 3 percent next year as will graduate resident tuition. Non-resident undergraduate students already receive a four-year tuition guarantee, which locks the entering tuition rate. Graduate student tuition will continue to be evaluated annually to determine the tuition rate increase that is required.
Contact:
Malinda Miller-Huey, 303-999-7808
