FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas is developing a budget for the 2009-10 academic year that would result in no increase in tuition over the current year’s level.

Chancellor G. David Gearhart will recommend the plan to keep tuition flat to the university’s board of trustees at its April meeting in Monticello. If approved, it would mark the first time in 24 years that the University of Arkansas has not raised tuition. 

The intention to hold tuition rates at current levels would be contingent upon the Arkansas General Assembly following through on the governor’s recommendation to restore $2.3 million of the $5 million cut from the university’s budget this fiscal year, and no additional unforeseen economic factors.

According to the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, the 4.4 percent cut from the university’s education and general funds budget put its annual state funding approximately $40 million below the level prescribed by the funding formula for higher education adopted by the legislature in 2006.

“We’re always sensitive to the cost burden that higher education places upon students and their families, and that burden clearly is being exacerbated by the unprecedented economic struggles faced by so many across the nation,” said Chancellor G. David Gearhart. “Thanks in significant measure to Gov. Beebe’s recommendation to restore some much-needed funding to the university, we are proceeding with a budget plan that will hold the current line on tuition in a direct effort to help our students.

“Obviously, our ability to do this is based on a presumption of no further cut to our state appropriation or other significant economic downturn. We believe this is the most responsible action under difficult circumstances,” added Gearhart.

Many universities nationwide are implementing significant tuition increases for the coming year to offset cuts in state appropriations. Some SEC schools already have raised 2009-10 tuition rates from 12 to 15 percent.

Gearhart believes the University of Arkansas must buck that trend in an effort to help 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 addition to keeping tuition rates at current levels, the university does not plan to recommend an increase of mandatory student fees, which fund a variety of student activities and specific programs. The Associated Student Government has endorsed this plan.

The university will recommend to the board a $2 increase to the 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. Consideration also is being given to a small processing fee for semester bill payment administration.

The board previously gave tentative approval of a 5 percent increase in non-mandatory parking fees in order to fund construction of parking decks on campus. Other non-mandatory fees also may be increased to cover costs. Such fees are the only source of income for many auxiliary campus services that do not receive revenue from tuition or state appropriations.

“The University of Arkansas is a very efficient institution compared to its peers nationally,” said Gearhart. “Through efforts to become even more lean, we are able to pass along the benefits of increased efficiency in the form of tuition savings, which is vital in our efforts to remain accessible and affordable. This efficiency also enables us to keep increases in student fees, which support specific university programs, to an absolute minimum.”

Some of the efficiency efforts referenced by Gearhart include reducing administrative overhead through the elimination of some senior-level positions, an aggressive energy savings program launched earlier this year, and the formation of a cost containment council that is expected to identify new ways to streamline university operations and reduce spending.

“We’re clearly faced with a challenge to our mission,” said Gearhart. “While the good news for students and families is that we may be able to hold the line on tuition in what is a very difficult economic environment, there are a number of negative impacts this economy is having on our ability to address mission-critical needs and priorities. Certainly, our ability to offer appropriate salary increases for faculty and staff might be one such area compromised.

“However, with many of our peers around the country facing massive layoffs and unpaid extended furloughs of faculty and staff, we are somewhat fortunate in Arkansas and believe we can develop a responsible budget plan that will have the least negative impact on our people, given the alternatives,” he added.