Board's Finance & Business Operations Committee to meet May 18 to continue its discussion of tuition and fees for 2018-19

The Finance and Business Operations Committee of the Tennessee Board of Regents will meet by telephone conference call at 9:30 a.m. CT Friday, May 18, to continue its discussion of student tuition and mandatory fees for the 2018-19 academic year.

The meeting is the second of three the committee is conducting to consider its upcoming recommendation on tuition and fees, and no votes are expected at this session. The committee will also meet May 30, when it is expected to vote on its recommendations. The recommendations then will be considered by the full Board of Regents at its June 22 meeting at Cleveland State Community College.

The conference call meeting is open to the public as listeners. Anyone wishing to listen may contact Board Secretary Sonja Mason at 615-366-3927 or sonja.mason@tbr.edu by 4:30 p.m. Thursday, May 17, to request call-in information.

Any increases in tuition and mandatory fees at Tennessee’s public colleges and universities must fall within a binding range scheduled to be set by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission at its May 17 meeting, following THEC’s analysis of state appropriations for higher education approved by the Tennessee General Assembly. THEC staff is recommending a range of zero (no increase) to 3 percent increase in tuition and mandatory fees combined.

Last year’s increase of 2.6 percent in tuition rates at TBR’s community and technical colleges was the lowest combined increase since 1991-92 and the third consecutive year of tuition hikes of 4 percent or less.

The College System of Tennessee is the state’s largest public higher education system, with 13 community colleges, 24 colleges of applied technology and the online TN eCampus serving approximately 140,000 students. The system is governed by the Tennessee Board of Regents.