AUSTIN, Texas—The Board of Regents of The University of Texas System today (Feb. 14) approved a $150 per semester infrastructure charge, beginning next fall, for students at The University of Texas at Austin.
The charge will increase by $50 in fall 2003, $85 in fall 2004, $85 in fall 2005 and $30 in fall 2006 and fall 2007, capping at $430 after six years.
Students attending the university in the summer and taking seven or more credit hours will pay $100 in the first year of the charge. The charge will grow annually by $30, capping at $250 in the sixth year. Students taking fewer than seven hours — about 70 percent of summer attendance — will pay $50 initially, with their charge growing $25 annually.
“We are pleased that we will be able to implement a charge that earned the support of student leadership at the university,” said Dr. Larry R. Faulkner, president of The University of Texas at Austin. “This charge represents one important step toward meeting the infrastructure needs of our campus over the next five years. Through a partnership among the university administration and faculty, our students and the state legislature we hope to generate the resources needed for The University of Texas to remain one of the nation’s leading public research universities.”
The charge is to provide funds needed to pay for essential building repair and renovation. By 2006-07, it will generate about $31 million of the $150.7 million in recurring funding the university says it needs to offset projected budget deficits.
The university initially proposed in early January an infrastructure charge of $230, increasing annually by $50 over five years. It amended its proposal after a month of discussions that included public hearings and meetings with student government leaders and others.
“On a cumulative basis over the first three years of this new charge, all full-time students will pay less under our final proposal,” said Kevin P. Hegarty, vice president and chief financial officer. “And 65 percent of all full-time students will pay less on an annual and cumulative basis over the first five years, compared to the original proposal.”
Hegarty said the proposal will generate about $8.1 million less than the initial proposal during the six-year ramp-up, softening the impact on current students but producing the final recurring income needed.
See President Faulkner’s "Funding the Future of UT Austin" presentation for complete details of the infrastructure charge, including answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.
