Citing state budget cuts, the University of Hawaii Board of Regents voted 9-3 Wednesday to approve a new round of annual tuition increases that will have UH-Manoa undergraduates paying 35 percent more five years from now.
"If we want to have a resilient university that can provide a high-quality, higher education experience for the students of Hawaii, we have to take this painful step, in my view," UH President M.R.C. Greenwood said at the meeting in Kapolei.
But Zuri Aki, 28, a UH-Manoa senior, rose from his seat soon after the vote, spoke to the board in Hawaiian and then said in English, "Shame on you for doing this. Mahalo to you three for voting no."
As he headed out the door, Aki said, "You guys don’t care about our future."
All campuses are affected. Annual tuition increases range from 3 percent to 8 percent. UH-Manoa undergraduates who pay $8,400 a year now will pay $11,376 in the 2016-17 school year.
The university administration said the increases are necessary as the institution lost $86 million in state appropriations in each of the past two years.
The new five-year tuition schedule will take effect in fall 2012 and run through the spring of 2017. The increase is expected to generate about $15 million of additional revenue in the first year and $25 million in the final year.
Revenue will go toward systemwide and campus-specific needs that include financial assistance, faculty, maintaining the availability of courses, supporting debt service and enhancing academic and student support services. Money will also go toward repairs and upgrades for classrooms and facilities.
The administration will conduct a review in the middle of the tuition schedule to assess its effects on students and on access to entering UH.
Eight votes were needed to pass the motion. This is the final year of the previous six-year tuition schedule, which took effect in fall 2006.
Linda Johnsrud, UH executive vice president for academic affairs, held a presentation on the tuition increase proposal at the regents’ meeting at the Hawaii Carpenters Union Training Center in Kapolei. More than 50 people attended.
Ten people testified Wednesday, most in opposition of the increase. Aki, one of the founders of Makawalu, a student organization, urged the board to consider the effect it would have on students.
"I work two jobs. I’m a full-time student and I’m barely balancing this. And classes are being canceled," Aki said. The increase will greatly impede students’ access to higher education, he said. Under existing tuition costs, Aki said, "We’re barely getting by. We’re barely surviving this and we really just don’t want to have to pay a higher price."
Nicholas Gibson, advocacy chairman of the Graduate Student Organization, said the group strongly opposed the proposal because of what it felt was a lack of transparency by the administration. Anna Koethe, president of the Associated Students of the University of Hawaii, asked the administration to further investigate other ways to generate revenue and ways to decrease campus expenditures.
Martin Trevino, vice chairman of the University of Hawaii Student Caucus, testified that the group felt its concerns were not addressed. "If we pay more, do we get more?" he asked.
Before the vote, regents Vice Chairman James Lee told attendees that deciding on the tuition increase was not an easy task for the board. "In our hearts, none of us want to have a tuition increase if it’s not necessary," Lee said, noting that he has a son who is a UH graduate student.
"Unless the state funding is restored to the 2008 level, it is clear that the tuition has to be increased so that we can maintain the quality of education offered at the University of Hawaii," Lee said.
Regents Ramon de la Pena, Matthew Williams and Jan Sullivan voted against the increase. De la Pena said he was concerned about students qualifying for financial aid.
"Some students mentioned that they are having difficulty applying for financial aid because they are still part of the family," de la Pena said, explaining that they’re still subsidized by their family. "This is typical of the Hawaiian, Filipino and Pacific Islanders because of the closer family ties that they have."
