UT-Tyler Freezes Undergrad Tuition For Two Years

("Money - Savings" by 401(K) - 2012 via Flickr)

UT-Tyler will freeze its resident undergraduate tuition for the next two years, according to a university spokesperson on Aug. 28. 

“In compliance with last week’s [Aug. 24-25] Board of Regents’ action, we will maintain total resident undergraduate academic costs (tuition, mandatory academic fees, all academic-related general fees and college course fees) at the current levels for the next two academic years,” the spokesperson said. 

UT-Tyler received roughly $10 million more for operating funds per year in state appropriations this legislative session as a result of an agreement struck between legislators and status university chancellors. Earlier this year, UT-System Chancellor James Milikin, along with chancellors from five other Texas university systems, penned a letter requesting $1 billion in additional state funding to avoid raising tuition. The Republican-led legislature replied with $700 million. 

In addition to this, The Texas Tribune reports, “The [state higher education] budget also includes nearly $1.5 billion in grants for low-income students. State higher education leaders say that money will serve 70% of students in public community colleges and 70% of four-year university students who qualify.”

With respect to UT-Tyler, the budget, along with its award of state funds, includes performance metrics legislators expect UT-Tyler to meet in receipt of state funds. Among them, The Average Financial Aid Per Full-Time Student Requirement jumped from nearly $9,200 dollars in fiscal years 21 and 22 to now $11,027 dollars in FY23 and FY24. The jump represents a roughly $2,000 dollar increase per full-time student. These acts appear to show that the legislature and state leaders are keeping in mind Texas higher education’s financial impact on students. 

It is unclear to this author yet specifically how UT-Tyler students will see these financial aid efforts' impact. The university did not yet respond to a request for comment on this topic by the time of this article. The author will update this report with its reply.

In the meantime, college affordability has been a priority of UT-System Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife, who Texas Governor Greg Abbott appointed in 2017. 

Under Eltife’s leadership, The Board established a $300 million endowment in March 2022, The Promise Plus program. For UT-Tyler, the endowment offers tuition assistance scholarships for families who make less than $80,000 dollars per year, according to UT-System’s announcement. 

The Board also decided not to raise resident undergraduate tuition to compensate for rising inflation in May. Instead, it chose to only approve a tuition hike for graduate students of up to 5.2 percent to meet inflation.The 5.2 percent is disrcretionary, meaning each university in UT System can decide how much of the approved hike to use.

The Board said in a statement at its May meeting, “Even in the current inflationary environment, U. T. System understands the importance of offering world-class, affordable higher education opportunities within the state and remains fully committed to controlling costs for students wherever possible."

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Twitter: @Jhescock12

Feature Image: "Money - Savings" by 401(K) - 2012 via Flickr

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