A public hearing is scheduled for Jan. 23, 2007 to discuss a proposed increase of $19 in designated tuition per semester credit hour at Texas A&M University-Commerce.
The amount of increase under consideration and the proposed use of those additional revenues will be presented and explained. All interested are welcome and invited to attend the hearing, said the Office of the Vice President for Business and Administration.
The results of this hearing will be presented by A&M-Commerce President Keith McFarland to the Board of Regents, along with his specific recommendations at the March 2007 meeting.
If passed, the tuition raise would come into effect, beginning Fall 2007.
This comes on the heels of a recent designated tuition hike of $15 per semester credit hour passed last March.
“[The Board of Regents] questions us to make sure we’ve looked at our financial situation,” said McFarland at last year’s Jan. 24, 2006 public hearing. “Then they make their decision from rejection to approval or decrease to increase. Ultimately, the board makes the decision.”
At the hearing, McFarland and interim Vice President for Business and Adminstration, Rex Giddens stressed that the university was not losing state support, as it remained constant. But as enrollment numbers began to grow, state funding stayed at the same numbers.
Twenty-three out of 8,000-plus students were present at last year’s meeting. The concerns varied, but no one voiced serious conflicts.
All institutions in the Texas A&M University system chose to raise tuition for the 2006-2007 academic year, citing increasing utility costs.