Tennessee students could see tuition hike
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JACKSON, Tenn. — Some college students in Tennessee could see a hike in tuition this fall. The Tennessee Board of Regents is scheduled to vote Thursday on raising tuition. “I don’t think it’s a good idea because I mean we’re already struggling to go to school,” Katie Clark said, a student. Clark is a senior nursing major at the University of Memphis-Lambuth in Jackson. “My parents haven’t been able to put anything towards tuition even though they really would want to,” she said. The board proposed up to a nearly 7 percent tuition increase for state universities, almost 6 percent for community colleges and 8.5 percent for its technical schools. “We would have no choice but to do it,” Dr. Dan Lattimore said, Dean at the University of Memphis-Lambuth. “I mean they’re our governing body.” Lattimore said when tuition goes up, the university has to provide more scholarships. “It’s not all just money coming to the university because we’ve sent a lot of it back to the students in terms of aid,” he said. Authorities blame the possible tuition hike on state revenue shortfalls. Lattimore estimates Lambuth students spend about $4,000 a semester in tuition. “Just like the books, the books will kill a lot of kids you know and they don’t even gotta go find money to get those, so just an increase in tuition is gonna make it real tough,” Rodney Miller said, a student. A 7 percent increase would be about an additional $280 a semester. The UT Board of Trustees is also scheduled to vote on the increase on Thursday. Lattimore said this is the first time in 22 years they are not requesting a tuition increase.
