Regents vote to raise UT tuition

AUSTIN (KXAN) - University of Texas students will soon shell out an additional $241 a semester. The University of Texas Board of Regents approved proposed cost increases Wednesday morning at all nine UT campuses for the Fall 2010 semester.

"That just means a lot more loans for me, I guess," said UT Austin sophomore Jasmine Murray.

UT Austin undergraduates currently pay $4,468. With the 3.95 percent increase and a $65 student approved fee, that cost would go up to $4,709. A further approval for fall 2011 would push that cost to $4,892, an amount the school's president Bill Powers said would not be enough for his campus.

"This proposal for undergraduate resident tuition keeps us virtually and basically flat in our budget over the next bi-anium," Powers said. "It does not meet our needs. It is strongly influenced by the need for affordability."

Of the nine campuses, UT Austin will rank second highest for total academic costs in fall 2010. Only UT Dallas students would pay more with $5,109.

Below is a breakdown of all the campuses and their proposed increase:

UT Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa told the Regents at the beginning of the meeting the increases were necessary to "recruit and retain the best faculty and students...state-of-the-art facilities, increased teaching, and research capacity."