The UConn Board of Trustees has approved a four-year plan that raises tuition 31 percent by the 2019-2020 school year. UConn officials said the increase is necessary to help offset a projected deficit of $40 million.
In the first year, the increase will generate $12.8 million toward closing the university’s budget gap in 2016-17. The remaining $27.4 million gap will be mitigated through cuts, restrictive hiring, operational efficiencies and other measures.
Currently, UConn tuition is $10,524 annually for in-state students and $32,066 for non-residents. For in-state students, tuition will increase $700 in the fall 2016 semester. Then it will increase over the following years by $775 in 2017-18; by $850 in 2018-19; and by $950 in 2019-20.
Out-of-state and international students’ tuition will go up by $950 for 2016-17, and then again by $1,050 for 2017-18; by $1,150 for 2018-19; and by $1,250 for 2019-20.
UConn said in a statement because out-of-state tuition is three times higher than in-state rates, percentage increases that have compounded over time have placed UConn as second only to the University of Vermont among competitors in the rates charged to non-resident students. The school said the new tuition proposal helps the university avoid enacting a disproportionately high increase on out-of-state and international students that would put UConn at a competitive disadvantage to draw students from other regions.
“It is important to note that both now and at the conclusion of the proposed four-year plan, it will continue to cost a Connecticut student attending UConn a fraction of what it would cost that student to attend any of UConn’s competitors,” said Scott Jordan, UConn’s executive vice president for administration and CFO.
