The fate of a $1,000 per semester program fee for the College of Nursing will be decided today at the Arizona Board of Regents meeting in Phoenix.
If the ABOR approves the proposal, nursing students will be looking at an extra $2,000 a year in fees, tacked on to an already increased tuition.
Megan Befort, a third year nursing student, said she recalled attending a meeting where the program fee was originally announced to students. She said the amount proposed came as a shock to many nursing students.
“”(Spending) $2,000 (a year) does not sound like a whole lot of money to the people who are running the nursing school, but to the college student who is gathering up debt it’s ridiculous,”” Befort said. “”Especially for a school that has never had a program fee for undergraduate students.””
Donna Cochran, assistant dean of finance and administration at the College of Nursing, explained the program fee was proposed largely because of the high instruction costs the College of Nursing incurs.
“”Clinical supervision of undergraduate nursing students must retain a ratio of one faculty instructor to every eight student nurses,”” she said. “”Adoption of a special program fee for traditional undergraduate nursing students will more accurately reflect the cost of instruction.””
Befort said when she first started at the UA, her undergraduate in-state tuition was $4,000. Now, Befort said she has been told that nursing students are looking at paying upwards of $7,700 total in tuition and fees, which is over a 50 percent increase.
“”It’s hard for students in my position to just drop out of school because of the tuition increase, because we are so close to being finished,”” Befort said. “”I feel like the students do not have a lot of control over whether these fees are instituted or not.””
The new revenue generated by the fee will be broken up among several different categories, Cochran wrote in an e-mail. Seventeen percent will go to student financial aid, 40 percent will go to instructor salaries, 10 percent will go to academic support personnel, 15 percent will go to program-related equipment and the remaining 8 percent will go toward miscellaneous costs.
Cochran said the College of Nursing would remain committed to providing access to undergraduate education.
“”The College of Nursing provides scholarships to a large number of undergraduate students and development efforts continue to focus upon student support,”” she said. “”Every effort will be made to assuage any undue financial burden emanating from this fee.””
