Education |

CU tuition to remain flat for upcoming academic year, then increase 3% in fall 2022

Tuition at the University of Colorado will remain flat for the upcoming academic year — the fourth straight year without an increase — but students will see a 3% price hike in the 2022-2023 school year.

CU’s Board of Regents voted 6-2 on Thursday in favor of a 3% tuition increase that will be covered by federal pandemic relief funds for the upcoming academic year but then kick in for the following year. Republican regents Heidi Ganahl and Chance Hill voted against the proposal and Republican Glen Gallegos was not at the virtual meeting.

“The impact of the pandemic is definitely part of it, but there are ordinary costs that continue to increase at the university just like they do for any other business, like cost of utilities and benefits,” said Todd Saliman, CU’s chief financial officer. “Those things continue to go up and tuition has been at the same level for three years straight and those costs have not stayed flat, so when you pile the impacts of the pandemic on top of the cost of doing business, it becomes something that we need to cover.”

Due to the financial fallout from COVID-19, the university system is dealing with a $257 million budget gap. Millions of dollars saved from furloughing employees, reserve money, hiring freezes and other reductions are covering that shortfall, Saliman said.

“The state funding increase will absolutely help and the efficiencies we’ve achieved over the last few years have helped keep costs down,” Saliman said. “The reality for higher education in Colorado is tuition is our primary funding source.”

Regent Sue Sharkey, R-Castle Rock, said the vote was likely one of the most significant the board will make.

“I have voted against increases in the past, yet for every vote, I consider the circumstances,” Sharkey said.

Sharkey said Colorado voters who did not support Proposition CC — a failed 2019 ballot initiative about tax refunds that higher education officials believed would bring in more state money for colleges — decided tuition payers rather than taxpayers should foot the bill of a college education.

“Today’s proposal offers the best of both worlds,” Sharkey said. “No out-of-pocket tuition increase next year and the ability to maintain the high-quality education our students expect and our state demands. Who should bear the cost of higher education — the tuition payer or the taxpayer? The voters have spoken. Until that changes, we will be subject to increasing costs of education.”

The university has budgeted $21.9 million of federal pandemic relief fund to cover the one-year “tuition buydown” that will keep the upcoming academic year’s tuition rate the same to help struggling students and families during challenging times, Saliman said.

Beginning in 2022, the Boulder campus’s annual tuition for in-state undergraduates will increase by $312, totaling $11,040, and go up almost $1,100 for out-of-state freshmen for a cost of more than $37,600. The Boulder campus has a four-year tuition guarantee that locks in the starting cost, so second, third, fourth and fifth-year students will not be impacted by the tuition increase. Tuition will increase $342 for in-state Boulder graduate students and $936 for out-of-state graduate students bringing the total costs to $12,168 and $32,220, respectively.

On the Colorado Springs campus, tuition for in-state undergraduates will increase by $268, totaling $9,118, and go up $720 for out-of-state students, totaling $24,690. Tuition will increase $384 for in-state graduate students, totaling $13,248, and $840 for out-of-state students, totaling $28,680.

On the Denver campus, tuition for in-state undergraduates will increase by $300, totaling $10,200, and go up $930 for out-of-state students, totaling $31,440. Tuition will increase $264 for in-state graduate students, totaling $9,312, and $912 for out-of-state students, totaling $31,032.

On the Anschutz Medical Campus, the in-state undergraduate nursing tuition will increase by 1.8% or $240 per academic year, totaling $13,350. The out-of-state undergraduate nursing tuition will increase by 1.9%, or $540. The university did not immediately provide the cost for this figure.

Sophia Volk, a second-year MBA student at CU Boulder who is graduating in May, has spearheaded a student campaign advocating for CU to lower tuition during the pandemic.

“We’re not getting the same level of quality we originally signed up for,” Volk said. “This is nowhere near the program we were agreeing to at the price. The price is not justified as is, so to see it go up is worse.”

Shay Mannik, a 20-year-old CU Boulder junior, spoke during Thursday’s meeting and pushed for lower tuition.

“It’s been made harder and harder for us to afford our education and that was even before the pandemic, during which time it has become clear that students have not been prioritized,” Mannik said. “Students like myself feel angry and devalued. It would be a mistake to think our anger will blow over.”