R510-1. Purpose: To establish a tuition policy for the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) including identification of authorized tuition models and other tuition charges.
R510-2. References
2.1. Utah Code §53B-7-101 (Combined Requests for Appropriations)
2.2. Federal Higher Education Act, 20 USC 1091b (Institutional Refunds)
2.3. Board of Higher Education Policy, R511 (Tuition Disclosures and Consultation)
R510-3. Setting Tuition
3.1. The Board of Higher Education shall set tuition, fees, and charges for each institution at levels necessary to meet budget requirements.
3.2. The president of each USHE institution, in consultation with their Board of Trustees and student body leadership, may recommend institutional tuition rate adjustments to the Board of Higher Education for review and action. Presidents who wish to adjust their institution’s tuition rate must submit a formal proposal to the Board of Higher Education that includes the following:
3.2.1. The total tuition adjustment in both dollars and percentage increase or decrease;
3.2.2. A detailed list of how the institution plans to use the additional tuition revenue, which may include tuition adjustments required to meet Legislative funding matches for compensation and internal service fees, faculty promotion and tenure adjustments, and other operating needs identified by the institution;
3.2.3. The anticipated impact of the proposed tuition adjustment on student access, retention, and completion rates;
3.2.4. Rationale and justification for why the tuition rate adjustment is necessary, including reference to the institution’s efforts to fund the proposed uses with existing resources, through internal reallocation, or institutional efficiencies;
3.2.5. Documentation which shows support from the Board of Trustees; and
3.2.6. Documentation which shows students were advised of proposed tuition rates through Truth-in-tuition Hearings and Student Body Leadership Councils.
3.3. The Board shall include its projected tuition rates in its unified budget proposal to the Legislature.
3.4. In the first Board of Higher Education meeting following the legislative session, the Board shall vote on final proposed tuition adjustments, if any.
3.5. Tuition changes approved by the Board take effect for the subsequent semester.
R510-4. Annual Review
4.1. The Board shall annually review price competitive tuition data including: comparisons with national and regional tuition and fee data, institutional cost data, median income statistics, average student debt load data, general and course fee data, and other affordability factors the Board identifies to determine if tuition adjustments are necessary to maintain fairness and price competitiveness.
4.2. Under the direction of the Board Audit Subcommittee, the USHE internal auditor will select one or more institution’s tuition adjustment proposals to verify accuracy, integrity, and reliability of the data provided to the Board of Higher Education at the end of the associated fiscal year.
R510-5. Tuition Cost Ratios
5.1. Resident/Nonresident Tuition Cost Ratios: Undergraduate nonresident tuition shall be set at no less than three times the institutional undergraduate resident tuition rate. The Board may grant exceptions on a case-by-case basis.
5.2. Graduate/Undergraduate Tuition Cost Ratios: Tuition for resident and nonresident graduate students will be set at no less than 110 percent of tuition for undergraduate students.
R510-6. Authorized Tuition Models
6.1. Institutions may use either one of the following tuition models:
6.1.1. A Linear Tuition Model in which the incremental tuition charge per student credit hour is the same without regard to the number of hours for which a student is enrolled.
6.1.2. A Plateau Model in which students carrying a defined full-time load are charged a uniform rate within a defined range of credit hours. Tuition per credit hour between one credit hour and the beginning of the plateau range shall increase in linear increments. Students enrolled for credit hours beyond the plateau range shall be charged at the same rate-per-credit-hour as the credit hours preceding the plateau range. The plateau, may be any range between 10 and 20 credit hours.
R510-7. Other Tuition Charges
7.1. Registration Costs: Registration costs shall be included in tuition, not assessed as a separate fee category.
7.2. Online Tuition: The Board may authorize alternative tuition schedules for online courses on a case by case basis.
7.3. Differential Tuition: The Board may authorize differential tuition schedules for programs on a case by case basis. In addition to initially approving differential tuition rates for academic programs, differential tuition increases beyond the regular institutional tuition increase proposal shall be approved by the Board. The institution shall use increased revenues from the differential tuition rate to benefit the impacted program and to help support related campus services. Institutions requesting differential tuition schedules should consult with students in the program and consider the following:
7.3.1. The student and workforce demand for the program;
7.3.2. The impact of differential tuition rates on student access and retention;
7.3.3. The tuition rates of comparable programs at other institutions; and
7.3.4. The potential earnings capacity of program graduates.
7.4. Apprenticeship Programs: Tuition for courses offered specifically for apprenticeship programs shall be at least one-half the tuition for other credit courses at the institution, but shall not exceed regular tuition rates.
7.5. Non-Credit Programs: Short-term intensive training (STIT) funds are appropriated by the Legislature to each participating USHE institution. Tuition for non-credit CTE programs funded with STIT dollars will be established by each institution at a level sufficient to cover program costs and in accordance with USHE guidelines and legislative intent.
7.6. Other Non-Credit Instruction: Tuition for other non-credit programs and courses shall be established by each USHE institution. The total of all available funds, including tuition, shall be sufficient to pay the total direct cost of providing such programs and courses, in the aggregate, for the institution.
7.7. Summer School: Institutions may reduce tuition rates for summer school students to incentivize students to attend during summer semesters.
7.8. Contract Credit Courses: Charges for credit courses provided under contract to outside agencies shall be at least sufficient to pay the total direct costs of providing such courses, in the aggregate for the institution.
7.9. Continuing Education Credit Enrollments: Students enrolled in Continuing Education credit courses other than contract courses shall be assessed tuition at no less than the regular charge per credit hour.
7.10. Medicine and Law: The Board will consider tuition for Medicine and Law programs separate from other programs.
7.11. Course Audit Registrations: Students must register to audit any class. Such audit hours will be part of their total load and they shall pay tuition at the same rate as paid by students registering for credit in the course.
7.12. Correction Facility Program Tuition: Reduced tuition for programs provided to inmates at state correctional facilities will be considered separately. The State Board of Education advisory council overseeing corrections education and recidivism reduction issues will determine inmate eligibility for participation in Board of Higher Education authorized tuition reductions.
Approved October 24, 1986; amended June 19, 1987, August 7, 1987, July 27, 1990, March 21, 1992, September 18, 1992, November 6, 1992, September 24, 1993, September 23, 1994, November 4, 1994, June 23, 1995, November 3, 1995, August 1, 1996, September 11, 1997, November 13, 1998, January 21, 2000, March 17, 2000, March 16, 2001, March 14, 2002, July 2, 2002 and December 14, 2007, January 11, 2012, November 16, 2012, May 16, 2014 and November 16, 2018.
