UT Board Votes to Raise Tuition

Tuition at every University of Tennessee campus will cost more this fall. The Board of Trustees voted today to raise fees and tuition by eight percent at UT Knoxville and six percent at Martin and Chattanooga. The UT system’s smaller programs and campuses will see increases as low as four percent or as high as ten.

While all the trustees seemed to be resigned to the idea that this year’s tuition hike was inevitable, there was some discussion of setting a goal to hold it in place next fall. James Murphy was one of several who said even that isn’t feasible unless UT gets more money from the state budget.

“Tution is not going up because it’s becoming more expensive to educate students. Tuition is going up because we’ve shifted the cost off of the taxpayer and onto the student, and that’s what’s happening.”

Democratic legislators are calling for a special session to consider giving money from surplus tax collections to state universities. Governor Bill Haslam has said that would not be “wise planning for the state.”