Verilu Infante 
UTRGV – “We have a very low debt load, we want you to graduate.”
At the November UT System Board of Regents meeting, it was agreed that all UT academic institutions would set uniform tuition increases starting fall of 2020. For the next two years, new students will pay a total 7% increase in tuition over a four-year period.
“So the primary source of revenue at universities is tuition dollars. And as you go forward, you have inflation and prices go up, and so the increases that were approved by the board of regents for all of the UT System schools were essentially inflationary increases,” said UTRGV President Guy Bailey.
President Bailey states that all UT system universities with a variable tuition rate, will have a 2.6% increase in tuition annually, a total increase of at least 10.4% over a four-year period. With UTRGV’s 4 year tuition and fees guarantee, current students enrolled at the university will be unaffected by this change. The university’s recently announced tuition advantage will not be affected either.
“We work really hard to keep our tuition and fees as low as possible, for us it is very important that students graduate with no debt or minimal debt,” said Bailey.
According to President Bailey, currently less than 25% of students pay tuition and fees out of pocket and the university has the 3rd lowest tuition charge in the state of Texas, and one of the lowest in the United States.
President Bailey says the revenue from the raised tuition will go towards hiring an additional 32 advisors over the next 2 years to bring the student to advisor ratio down to about 300 to 1.
Another portion will go towards other student support activities, student success activities, and faculty hiring. We’ll keep you updated with any new information on tuition changes.
Click on the video below to watch the full story.
