Modest tuition increases include new four-year guarantee at CU-Boulder

The Board of Regents on Wednesday approved tuition rates for the 2016-17 academic year, including a new commitment to guarantee rates for resident undergraduates at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Beginning fall semester 2016 and fall semester 2017, incoming freshmen at CU-Boulder will see a one-time increase of up to 5 percent in their tuition and mandatory fees, which will then remain locked for four years. Incoming freshmen in the fall of 2018 and 2019 will see a one-time increase of up to 4 percent in their tuition and mandatory fees, which will then remain locked at that rate for four years.

The board’s vote also approved administration-recommended increases in tuition and mandatory fees at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (4.61 percent), the University of Colorado Denver (3.38 percent lower division, .19 percent upper division) and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (4.77 percent for undergraduate nursing).

The percentage increases across CU’s four campuses are expected to be among the lowest in the state for the next fiscal year. The university strives to set tuition rates as early in the year as possible in order to better help Colorado families and students with advance financial planning.

Meeting at CU Denver, the board voted 7-2, with Regents Glen Gallegos and Stephen Ludwig opposing.

“We are working hard to create predictability for students and parents, as well as for the campus administration to allow them to know what they will have to work with on more than a year-by-year basis,” said Regent Steve Bosley.

The regents approved the new tuition model at CU-Boulder to address resident tuition and mandatory fee increases for the next four years. The campus already has in place a guaranteed tuition plan for nonresident students.

Each entering freshman class will see a one-time increase in tuition and mandatory fees with a lock on that tuition and fees for the next four years. If the student takes an additional year to finish, the tuition rate for the fifth year would increase to the level of tuition and mandatory fees that the following freshman class of that student’s class is paying.

Resident sophomores and juniors in 2016-2017 will also benefit from this new model. They will receive the one-time increase in tuition and mandatory fees that the freshman will receive along with the guarantee of no change for four years.

Two members of the CU Student Government (CUSG) finance board, Wyatt Ryder and Haelena Bondi-Camacho, appeared at the meeting to endorse the 5 percent guarantee plan. The board had also been considering an alternative that would have committed to a 3 percent tuition increase that would not have been guaranteed in subsequent years.

“We think the guarantee is the best option for students and their families because it provides for planning and stability,” said Ryder, chair of the CUSG finance board. He said the CUSG voted unanimously in favor of the guarantee plan.