LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees has approved a tuition request from University of Arkansas Chancellor G. David Gearhart that will leave tuition unchanged for the next academic year – the first time in 24 years that the university has not implemented a tuition increase.

“In the current economic climate, we believed keeping tuition rates at current levels was the only rational thing to do in order to hold costs down for current and prospective students, in spite of the fiscal challenges we face as a university,” said Gearhart. “We could not have taken this step without strong financial support from Governor Mike Beebe and the state legislature, as well as our trustees.”

The university’s action today bucks a national trend of significant tuition increases in the face of unprecedented state funding cuts for higher education around the country. Some SEC schools already have raised 2009-10 tuition rates from 12 to 15 percent.

“We are fortunate to be able to hold costs steady for our students in light of the unprecedented funding cuts experienced by many of our peers nationally,” said Gearhart. “As a public land-grant university, we have a responsibility to keep a University of Arkansas education affordable for our citizens. Certainly, we will be operating on a very lean budget and will be making sacrifices that will be critical to address and support in the years ahead. We will not, however, sacrifice the high quality of education that our students receive and that our state has come to expect.”

Gearhart believes holding the line on tuition this year – a year in which students and families are faced with many unprecedented economic issues – is essential to addressing the priority of helping more students attend and graduate from college in Arkansas, a state that ranks 50th in the nation in the percentage of adults possessing a college degree.

“Increasing the number of four-year degree holders provides direct stimulus to the economy because the average person earning a baccalaureate degree earns approximately $1 million more in their lifetime than those who do not earn a degree,” said Gearhart in March, when the plan to keep tuition rates flat was first discussed.

Tuition for in-state undergraduates at the Fayetteville campus will remain at $167 per semester credit hour. Out-of state undergraduates will pay $462.91 per semester credit hour.

In addition to keeping tuition rates at current levels, the board approved the university’s recommendation to not increase required student fees, which fund a variety of student activities and specific programs and are typically voted on by students. The Associated Student Government has endorsed this action.

The board did approve a $2 increase to the mandatory facility fee instituted last year, which supports a long-term funding plan for the estimated $218 million in deferred critical maintenance of classroom and laboratory facilities on campus. Also, graduate students set to complete certain degree programs next May that require a thesis or dissertation will see a modest increase of $10 in graduation fees. All other mandatory fees will remain unchanged.

The board also formally approved a 5 percent increase in non-mandatory parking fees in order to fund construction of parking decks on campus. Only students who choose to park a vehicle on campus are subject to these fees. Such fees are the only source of income for many auxiliary campus services – such as parking, housing and campus dining services – that do not receive revenue from tuition or state appropriations.