The University of Hawaii Board of Regents is weighing an initial recommendation to raise tuition in a few years for four-year undergraduates and law school students while keeping tuition unchanged for community college students, graduate students and other professional school students.

The “Review of Proposed Tuition Schedule: Academic Year 2023-2024 through 2026-2027,” submitted by Pearl Iboshi, director of the university’s Institutional Research Analysis and Planning Office, and UH President David Lassner, went before the regents Thursday as an informational presentation on the history and possible future ramifications of recommended tuition changes.

No decision on the tuition schedule will be made until next spring at the earliest, and the presentation was solely “to give regents an overview and solicit feedback and input,” UH spokesman Dan Meisenzahl said in an email. “Everyone — students, the public, faculty, etc. — will have ample opportunities to weigh in on a tuition schedule when it is officially proposed.”

Under the initial recommendation made in the review:

>> Undergraduates at UH’s four-year campuses — UH Manoa, UH West Oahu and UH Hilo — would see tuition remain unchanged in 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, then increase 2% each of the following two academic years.

For full-time resident undergraduates at UH Manoa, for instance, the current tuition of $5,652 per semester would rise to $5,880 by the final year of the four-year schedule. For nonresidents it would go from the current $16,668 per semester to $17,341 by 2026-2027.

The reason to wait to increase tuition rates is that “Hawaii’s economy is still in recovery mode, and increasing rates at this time would create hardship for our students and their families,” the review said. In addition, the university system’s finances are “generally favorable,” and its budget reserves can cover one-time expenses, the review said.

>> William S. Richardson School of Law tuition would stay flat in the 2023-24 school year, then increase by 2% each of the following three years. The current $11,196 per semester would remain the same in the first year, rising by increments to $11,881 in the last year of the four-year tuition schedule.

The increases would fund “compelling needs” at the law school, such as improvements in staffing and support, and additions to the law library, the review said. It also noted that the UH law school’s strategic plan reports that its tuition is “approximately 20% lower on average than other state institutions in the country.”

>> Community college tuition would remain unchanged for the four years. “Any increase at all will impact those who need us most,” the review said. The tuition at Leeward Community College, for instance, currently is $3,144 per year.

>> Most graduate and professional school tuition would remain unchanged for the four years. The rationale, the review said, is that “our comparative institutions have generally maintained level rates for graduate tuition, and UH tuition remains relatively higher that its peers.”

The review notes that UH resident tuition has remained relatively flat in recent years. Meanwhile, recurring expenses for the UH system are projected to exceed revenues beginning in 2024-25 by $14 million to $17 million, the review said. Tuition makes up roughly 40% of education revenue for the UH system; state general fund appropriations cover the rest.

According to the UH regents’ policy, the UH administration must conduct open public meetings on a tuition proposal on Hawaii island, Kauai, Maui and Oahu. The administration will provide the regents with a summary of the input, which will be incorporated as appropriate into revisions to the final proposal for the regents’ approval.

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Proposed increases

In an informational review of tuition at the University of Hawaii, administrators made an initial recommendation for tuition increases for some categories of students.

2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 2026-27

Undergraduate rate at four-year campuses 0% 0% 2% 2%

Community colleges 0% 0% 0% 0%

Graduate school and professional schools* 0% 0% 0% 0%

William S. Richardson School of Law 0% 2% 2% 2%

* Except for law school