Auburn trustees raise tuition fees 12%

Auburn University students will pay more for their education next school year because trustees have approved a 12 percent tuition increase

By: Associated Press | Opelika Auburn News
Published: June 28, 2008

Auburn University students will pay more for their education next school year because trustees have approved a 12 percent tuition increase.

Auburn's board of trustees, faced with a record $60 million budget deficit, voted for the increase Friday and it will be applied to the main campus as well as Auburn Montgomery.

Tuition for Alabama students will go from $2,917 to $3,250 and rates for out-of-state students will jump from $8,167 to $9,130.

Jimmy Rane of Abbeville said he opposed the increases and estimated that 26 percent of Auburn students won't be able to afford the higher tuition.

The increases will generate about $20 million a year for the university, about half the amount it will lose in the budget year that starts Oct. 1.

Don Large, Auburn's executive vice president, said $60 million is the largest budget cut the AU System has ever faced. Approximately $40 million of the deficit is a result of the state budget, he said.

Auburn's increases are similar to those adopted by other boards of trustees since the Legislature passed the new budget.

Last week, University of Alabama System trustees voted to raise tuition by 12 percent at the Tuscaloosa campus, 11 percent at the Birmingham campus and 14 percent at the Huntsville campus.

In Mobile, trustees at the University of South Alabama earlier this month voted to increase tuition and fees by 14 percent, and Jacksonville University trustees recently voted to increase what students pay by 11.6 percent.

Also Friday, AU trustees voted to borrow $92.5 million. Most of that — $84.6 million — is slated for building a new basketball arena on campus. The rest of the money will be used to renovate athletic offices.