| This scaffolding was set up in the Geary Theater on the CEU campus last fall to remove the asbestoes from the building. Student tuition and fees are not generally used for such projects, but instead money is appropriated by the state. |
The College of Eastern Utah will remain Utah’s best value money wise for education in Utah for another year as the state board of regents approved tuition rates for the upcoming school year.
Full time students will see tuition rise by only $41per semester to $950. At the same time, regents approved a new tuition schedule that CEU officials hope will provide incentives to attract more students.
The new schedule includes a tuition plateau that begins for students taking 10 hours and remains flat through 19 hours.
“We expanded the plateau as a way to encourage students taking three classes to take more hours,” said CEU President Ryan Thomas. “We hope that a student at nine hours will say ‘if I pay for one more hour I can take two or three more classes for the same price.”
Thomas, who will leave the school as he retires next month, has been one of the people instrumental in helping to reduce the debt of the school down to a near zero balance, from millions of dollars in the red just a few years ago.
Community members will also see a benefit as rates for classes with three or fewer hours dropped substantially. Students taking just one class will have to pay only $175 for a three hour class. One hour classes will be $75 and two hour classes will be $125.
“Our community wants to take classes from us, but the cost has been prohibitive in the past,” stated Provost Mike King. “This will allow us to serve our neighbors better and provide a tool to increase enrollment.”
Non-residents will also see a benefit as the college takes advantage of a new regent policy that provides flexibility in setting non-resident tuition.
“The old policy resulted in non-resident tuition rising to more than four times that of residents – it was a strong deterrent to potential students from Colorado and Wyoming,” said vice president for finance Kevin Walthers. The new rate will set non-resident tuition at two times resident rates.
“We have capacity for more students – we think this can reinvigorate our international programs and add greatly to our campus experience,” added Brad King, vice-president for advancement and student services.
For the second consecutive year fees will remain at $170.80 for full time students although the distribution will change again as fees for auxiliary debt service are removed and the game room is closed.
“Student government used savings to address key issues important to students – particularly with the counseling center that hadn’t received support in the past,” said Kamber Jensen, CEU Student Association Vice-President for Finance.
The largest recipients of fees students pay for next year will be the bond on the Leavitt Student Center, Associated Students of the College of Eastern Utah, the computer labs and the health and wellness clinic.
“CEU students should feel good that they won’t see large increases as they prepare for next year. We want to maintain CEU’s reputation for being the best educational value in the state,” stated CEU student body president Emilee Dunn.
The school presently remains independent of the other colleges and universities in the state, despite a move earlier this year to put a bill through the legislature that would have merged CEU with Utah State University. One of the main concerns of local students and parents at that time was what the tuition for such a combination school would be.
The merger bill never made it to the floor of the legislature, but the concept is presently under study by the legislature and others for possible consideration in next years session.