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The University of Hawaii has approved a three-year freeze of undergraduate tuition rates at all 10 campuses and a reduction of graduate tuition at UH Manoa, starting in the fall of 2020.
Members of the UH Board of Regents on Thursday voted 13-2 in favor of the new tuition rates at their meeting at Windward Community College following an hourlong debate. The proposal freezes undergraduate tuition at current rates, and reduces tuition by 2% for resident graduate students, and by 10% for nonresident graduate students at UH Manoa, for three academic years.
“The new schedule ensures affordable higher education for the people of Hawaii while providing stability over a multi-year period that will aid student recruitment and retention,” said UH President David Lassner in a news release after the vote. “It also increases our competitiveness in the broader higher education landscape as we strive to provide Hawaii with a more educated workforce and citizenry.”
Currently, the tuition for a full-time undergraduate at UH Manoa is $5,652 per semester for a resident and $16,668 per semester for a nonresident. The tuition for a full-time graduate student at UH Manoa is $7,956 per semester for a resident and $18,696 per semester for a nonresident.
Lassner presented the new tuition rates to the board as a way to maintain affordability for residents and to make the university more competitive with its peers, particularly because enrollment has dropped as tuition has gone up.
Donald Straney, vice president of Academic Planning and Policy, presented line graphs showing that the enrollment of graduate students has declined over five years as tuition rates increased. From 2013 to 2018, the enrollment of graduate students at UH Manoa declined by about 11% for residents, and by 19% for nonresidents, he said.
He pointed out that tuition rates statewide have increased steadily over the last 10 years, and are now higher than peer institutions.
Based on tuition cuts for UH Manoa graduate students, there will be an expected net decrease of about $398,400 in revenue from residents, and about $2.8 million from nonresidents. These would be offset if an additional 25 residents, and additional 76 nonresidents, enroll in UH Manoa graduate school due to lower tuition rates.
Board members Jeffrey Portnoy and Michael McEnerney voted against the proposal, expressing concerns about whether tuition rates correlated directly with enrollment or whether other factors played a role.
“I do not believe it is fiscally responsible to make a three-year commitment to freezing tuition,” said Portnoy. “There isn’t another business in the United States that I’m aware of that makes a three-year commitment to freeze its price — not airlines, not hotels, not retail stores, not private schools. It’s impossible. And in these turbulent economic times, it’s more impossible than ever.”
Portnoy said he would have supported a one-year tuition freeze, but that he felt it should be determined on a yearly basis. McEnerney agreed, saying that freezing tuition for three years did not make economic sense.
The board passed the new tuition schedule with an amendment that it be subject to “annual evaluation and adjustment to prevent significant, negative, economic or enrollment impact to the university.”
UH is entering the third and last year of the previously approved three-year tuition schedule. In the upcoming 2019–2020 academic school year, resident undergraduate tuition will increase by 2% for UH Manoa and seven community colleges, and by 1% for UH Hilo and UH West Oahu.
These will be frozen for the following three academic years.
“The regents are fully supportive of efforts to keep college affordable for Hawaii residents, while keeping tuition competitively priced for non-resident students who may have considered enrolling elsewhere,” Board of Regents Chairwoman Lee Putnam said in a statement. “The individual UH campuses will handle fluctuations in revenues with a constant eye on addressing the longstanding challenges of maintaining and improving facilities, and protecting the excellence of our educational experience.”
TUITION RATES
Summary of tuition rates for academic years 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23
>> Undergraduate at all campuses: Maintain 2019-2020 tuition rates for the next three years.
>> Graduate at UH Manoa: 2% decrease for residents and 10% decrease for nonresidents.
>> At UH Maui College four-year programs: A full-time tuition rate will be established equal to the rate for 12 credits. Currently, tuition is charged on a per-credit basis.
SCHEDULE OF TUITION RATES PER SEMESTER
Full time, fiscal year 2019-20
>> UH Manoa undegraduate: $5,652 (resident), $16,668 (nonresident)
>> UH Manoa graduate: $7,956 (resident), $18,696 (nonresident)
Full time, fiscal years 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23
>> UH Manoa undergraduate: $5,652 (resident), $16,668 (nonresident)
>> UH Manoa graduate: $7,800 (resident), $16,824 (nonresident)
Source: University of Hawaii
TUITION BY THE NUMBERS
The Board of Regents agreed to freeze undergraduate rates for three years and lower graduate tuition. The following are the 2020-23 rates per semester for UH Manoa:
$5,652
For a resident undergraduate
$16,668
For a nonresident undergraduate
$7,956
For a resident graduate student
$18,696
For a nonresident graduate student
75