After holding nine public meetings over fall and winter terms, the University of Oregon’s Tuition and Fee Advisory Board has finalized its recommendations on tuition and fees for the upcoming academic year.
The advisory board is recommending that the tuition rate for next year’s incoming class of undergraduate students be set at a level that is higher than the current rate by 4.5 percent for Oregon resident students and by 3 percent for nonresident students. Adjusted administratively controlled mandatory fees for all incoming undergraduate students will be 3.76 percent higher than for the previous cohort.
If approved by the president and UO Board of Trustees, those tuition rates and mandatory fees would then be locked for those students for five years.
As part of the Oregon Guarantee, the recommended rates only apply to the incoming class of first-year and transfer students, as tuition rates and mandatory fees for all other undergraduate students are already set.
Current first- and second-year students will see no increase in their tuition rates or administratively controlled mandatory fees because of the guaranteed tuition program. In addition, other continuing undergraduates who started at the UO prior to summer 2020 already have a guaranteed tuition and administratively controlled fee increase of 3 percent next year, as part of the phase-in of the guaranteed tuition program.
The advisory board — made up of students, staff and faculty members — sent a memo outlining its final recommendations to UO President Michael H. Schill on Feb. 11.
In a subsequent memo to campus, Schill invited comments on those recommendations. He will also hold a public forum on tuition Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. in the Erb Memorial Union ballroom to gather further direct comment. Students can register online to attend virtually, as well. Written public comments on the recommendations will be accepted until Friday, Feb. 18, at 5 p.m.
Schill will take into consideration both the advisory board’s recommendations and public feedback as he makes his recommendation to the UO Board of Trustees, which will vote on tuition rates for next year at its March quarterly meeting.
During their meetings, advisory board members discussed the university’s finances in detail, as well as trends in domestic, international and transfer student enrollment, economic pressures on the UO including labor costs and inflation, and the financial challenges students face in paying for higher education.
The board also reviewed proposed tuition rate increases for graduate programs, which are not part of the Oregon Guarantee. The recommendations range from no increase to 3.1 percent, depending on the program, with the exception of a proposed 5 percent increase for the School of Law.
The advisory board’s recommendation outlines details of an agreement between the Associated Students of the University of Oregon and the university that would transition funding for the Erb Memorial Union from the incidental fee to the student union fee.