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The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
College students in Tennessee could be facing even higher costs as the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) considers a tuition increase for the state’s public universities.
According to THEC, an additional $75 million is needed by the state’s university system annually, with $40 million needed for operational costs and $35 million allocated to a 2.5% staff salary increase, to align with state-wide salary adjustments.
Currently, THEC receives about $1.5 billion from the state each year but has a total budget of $3.3 billion. The funding gap means public universities rely on student tuition and fees for 57% of their budgets, with community colleges depending on student payments for 40% of their revenue, and colleges of applied technology for 33%.
To meet revenue demands, THEC staff will propose a potential tuition and fee increase for the 2024-25 school year, ranging between 0% and 5%.
At the University of Memphis, where tuition and fees rose 8.1% over the past five years, a proposed 1% increase would bring annual tuition costs to $10,835. Meanwhile, Tennessee Technological University has seen the steepest five-year rise at 22%, and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville remains the most expensive THEC school, with current tuition set at $13,812.
THEC’s meeting on Thursday will consider adjustments to tuition increase parameters, with definitive rates expected in a later session.
