UI requests tuition hike for full-time students

The University of Idaho will request more in tuition increases for its full-time students than any other public, higher education institution in the state this morning at a regular meeting of the Idaho State Board of Education in Moscow.

The UI is requesting a 6 percent increase in tuition and fees for its full-time undergraduate students, an 8.1 percent increase for its graduate students and a 9 percent increase for its nonresident students for Fiscal Year 2019. Those are $452, $112 and $1,462 increases from last year, respectively.

The requests are larger in percentage and dollar amount than requests from Boise State University, Idaho State University and Lewis-Clark State College, which are requesting between 3.5 and 5.1 percent tuition and fee increases for their full-time students.

The UI will also request tuition and fee hikes for its part-time students. Undergraduate students could face a 6.1 percent increase in tuition and fees, graduate students a 9.2 percent increase and nonresident students an 8.8 percent increase upon the board’s approval. Comparatively, BSU is requesting tuition and fee increases from 14.8 to 15.3 percent for its part-time students.

Brian Foisy, vice president for finance at the UI, said the requested tuition increases – which would generate approximately $2.46 million if all were approved – would fund maintenance of current operations and employee raises.

This year, the Idaho State Legislature approved a 3 percent Change in Employee Compensation. The Legislature only funds a portion of that pay increase for UI employees, Foisy said. The UI is expected to raise the rest of the balance from students. The funding also goes toward scholarships and athletics.

“If the board is unable to support tuition at this requested level, then there are some things on this list that we simply won’t be able to fund,” Foisy said.

Last year, the UI also requested a 6 percent tuition hike for its full-time undergraduate students but received just a 3.5 percent increase.

UI Budget Director Trina Mahoney said the last time the board approved the UI’s requests in full was Fiscal Year 2016, when the UI requested a 3.5 percent tuition hike.

Costs of attending college in Idaho have increased significantly in the past 11 years. The average cost to attend Idaho’s public, four-year institutions increased 33 percent between 2007 and 2017, from $14,578 to $19,401, according to documents included in the ISBOE’s agenda. In relation, Idaho per capita income increased 24 percent, from $32,580 to $40,444.

The board meets 10 a.m. today in the Bruce Pitman Center International Ballroom at the UI.