|
New Mexico Tuition Increases
will be Small
 Students and parents in surrounding
states could be facing in-state tuition increases as
high as 40 percent. The Denver Post reports that
Colorado colleges and universities may see the greatest
increase if a proposal from the Colorado State
Legislature is approved. A 40 percent increase would
push annual resident undergraduate tuition from $2,908
to $4,071 at Colorado State University and from $3,192
to $4,469 at the University of Colorado. Arizona and
Texas universities are looking at a similar increase
that can reach as high as 32 percent.
What about New Mexico schools? In
House Bill 2, the New Mexico Commission on Higher
Education asks that tuition credit increase by a minimum
of 4 percent for residents at the community colleges and
for all students, residents and non-residents, at the
state universities. All possible tuition increases will
be requested and voted on in the very near future by the
Regents of each school. Tuition increase seem to be
headed anywhere from 4 percent to 7 percent.
Fortunately for our surrounding
neighbors, New Mexico’s Post Secondary Schools offer
several waivers for our out-of-state students. Most of
our colleges and universities offer out-of-state
students 150% tuition cost if their bordering state is
within 150 miles of the respective university. Another
possible tuition reduction is the Western Undergraduate
Exchange program. The Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE)
is a program through which students in fifteen
participating states may enroll in a designated two-year
and four-year institution, as well as programs in other
participating states at a special, reduced tuition level
applicable only to WUE students, namely the amount of
in-state tuition plus fifty percent of that amount.
States participating in WUE are: Alaska, Arizona,
California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada,
New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah,
Washington, and Wyoming.
Tuition hikes and anticipated
increases at universities in other states:
University of Arizona – 38.5
percent (2002-03)
University of California – 30
percent (2002-03)
University of Oklahoma – 28 percent
(2002-03)
Texas A&M anticipates a 21 percent
increase for fall 2004.
University of Texas anticipates a 13 percent increase in
fall 2004.
|
