University of Arizona President Eugene Sander is recommending no undergraduate tuition increase for Arizona residents in the 2012-13 school year. That is a shift from his initial request for a 3 percent increase.
"It seemed to me we were in it where we should take advantage of perhaps giving a break to our in-state undergraduate students this year," Sander says in explaining how he changed his mind on the tuition increase.
In an Arizona Illustrated interview airing Tuesday, Sander says he is proposing small increases for out-of-state students.
Given all the other budget considerations, Sander says he thinks the university can make ends meet without raising tuition on in-state undergraduate students.
The Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees the Arizona university system and sets tuition rates, will meet next week to weigh tuition recommendations from Sander and the presidents of Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University.
Tuition is one component of university budgets, with other money coming from the state's general fund. The level of state funding is as yet undetermined because the Republican legislative majority and Gov. Jan Brewer are still negotiating next year's budget.
Sander says he expects the UA budget will not include drastic cuts in 2012-13. He says he hopes legislators will approve a requested $12 million to finish the UA medical school campus in Phoenix.
University of Arizona's President Eugene Sander explains the UA's requested budget for next year including a specific request that the Legislature consider funding for the UA Medical School in Phoenix.
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