Despite a Monday opposition rally by students at Central Connecticut State University, the Board of Regents’ Finance Committee approved a tuition hike for its universities and community colleges during its meeting Thursday..
If approved by the full Board of Regents for Higher Education on March 21, the proposed tuition and fee increases will impact almost 100,000 students at the state’s 12 community colleges and four state universities.
The proposal would increase tuition for in-state commuter students at the state universities by 5.1 percent and raise tuition by 4.1 percent for in-state and out-of-state residential students. Students at community colleges would see their tuition rise by 5.25 percent.
The proposal would see out-of-state students at the state’s universities paying around $31,400 per year. Students from Connecticut living on campus would pay around $19,900 a year and commuters would pay around $9,000 a year.
If the board approves the increase, in-state university students would pay $1,030 for the university fee, and out-of-state university students would pay $2,451.
Students of the state’s online public college, Charter Oak State College, would see their costs rise by $13 per credit to $258 per credit.
CCSU students and professors protested the proposed changes at a rally on Monday.
In a statement, BOR Finance Committee Chairman Gary Holloway said the committee was mindful that tuition and fee increases were hard for students to absorb. But he said they were happy they were not forced to consider tuition increases of 10 percent or more.
“Thankfully, that is not the situation in which we find ourselves. However, we must continue to be innovative in the way in which we provide services to our students, and consider any and all opportunities for cost savings going forward,” he said.
The next meeting of the full Board of Regents is scheduled for March 21.
