Tuition changes: UA to implement tuition increase, Arizona Board of Regents plans to standardize tuition increase rates every four years

The+University+of+Arizona+Bursar%26%238217%3Bs+Office%2C+located+in+the+University+Services+Building%2C+is+responsible+for+student+payments+and+billing%2C+among+other+aspects+of+college+finances.

Carmen Valencia

The University of Arizona Bursar’s Office, located in the University Services Building, is responsible for student payments and billing, among other aspects of college finances.

Cole Fields

The University of Arizona announced a tuition increase for new undergraduate students on March 10. This proposal will raise resident tuition by 3% and nonresident tuition by 4%.

Despite the changes to policy, students currently attending the UA can be assured that their tuition will still be kept constant throughout their stay.

This will not affect most of the UA student body, due to the protections of the Guaranteed Tuition Program, which “is the University of Arizona commitment to provide students with a constant tuition rate and mandatory fees, as set by the Arizona Board of Regents for eight (8) continuous semesters (summer and winter sessions excluded), beginning with the term of an Undergraduate student’s initial enrollment on the Main Campus,” according to the UA Bursar site.

Prior to the announcement of this increase, the Arizona board of regents discussed the implementation of a new policy regarding tuition at the UA. During a February meeting, the group discussed revisions to their policies regarding student fees, tuition and the procedure for setting these standards.

Board of Regents Executive Director John Arnold presented the changes.

“The proposed policy is intended to create clear predictability for students and their families regarding the tuition that they will pay over the course of their college journeys by setting multiple year maximum increases rather than making a year-by-year tuition determination,” Arnold said.

This means that every four years the board of regents will set a maximum increase in tuition that will not be exceeded. Then, the university will submit to the board of regents a tuition rate in November each year that follows these guidelines. This will give prospective students foresight into roughly how much they will pay for tuition long before they actually apply.

“The new tuition setting model, to be implemented for fall 2024, will offer future students and families more predictability and clarity on tuition costs earlier in their decision-making process,” Kasey Urquidez, University of Arizona vice president of enrollment management and dean of undergraduate admissions said. “In conjunction with the Arizona Promise Program, this will pave the way to increased access and affordability for many Arizona residents. It is also important to keep in mind that we will continue to offer guaranteed tuition and mandatory fees for our continuing undergraduates.”

The board of regents will vote on these tuition increases on April 20, and there will be a virtual public hearing about tuition on March 28 from 3-5 p.m. Interested speakers can register on the board of regents’ Public Notices site.


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