UH Board of Regents Approve Tuition Reduction

By Maui Now Staff

Today, the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents approved UH President David Lassner’s proposal to reduce tuition increases for resident undergraduate students for both the 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years. This changes the previously approved 7% tuition increases in the fourth and fifth years of the current five-year tuition schedule which were approved in 2011 for all UH system campuses.

The original tuition increases were reduced as follows:

• University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa tuition: reduced from 7% to 5%
• University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo tuition: reduced from 7% to 4%
• University of Hawaiʻi, West Oʻahu tuition: reduced from 7% to 4%
• University of Hawaiʻi Community Colleges (seven campuses) tuition: reduced from 7% to 5%
  (reduced to 4% for upper division)

“The Board of Regents has wrestled with balancing affordability with a high quality education,” said Board Chair Randy Moore. “We support the UH administration in striving to achieve this difficult equilibrium.”

President Lassner said that funding support from the state Legislature helped to position the university so that a lower tuition increase could be considered.

“The UH administration is very focused on cost containment and improved efficiencies,” Lassner said. “I thank the Legislature and our campuses for working extremely hard to ensure that high-quality public higher education in Hawaiʻi remains available and affordable for all.”

UH Vice President for Budget and Finance Kalbert Young also acknowledged the UH Board of Regents.

“The board is demanding greater transparency and accountability in UH’s finances,” said Young. “We are committed to these principles as we work to support our students and faculty with quality educational experiences in a fiscally responsible manner.”

Tuition rates at public higher education institutions across the nation have increased dramatically since the early 2000s, the UH Board of Regents press release disclosed.

In fall 2011, the Board of Regents approved a five-year tuition schedule for the academic years 2012-13 through 2016-17, which was designed to ensure that resources were available to meet enrollment growth under declining state investment by applying modest tuition increases in the first two years. During that time in the economic recession, the board’s intent was to give students and their families time to plan for larger increases in the latter part of the schedule.

Since the original decision to increase tuition was made, enrollment and state appropriations have largely stabilized.