Oregon Tech Trustees vote to keep tuition increase below inflation at 4.9%
The Oregon Tech Board of Trustees voted at its April meeting to increase tuition levels for the 2023-24 academic year. The meeting was held at the university’s Klamath Falls campus.
At the meeting, Finance and Administration Vice President John Harman summarized the process of reviewing and recommending university tuition rates, which involves strong student leadership on the Tuition Recommendation Committee (TRC), as well as faculty and staff engagement.
The TRC actively engages the campus community through meetings and campus forums to develop and recommend a tuition rate to the university president based on student and university needs, focusing on programs, quality, affordability, supporting at-risk students, and budget dynamics. The Associated Students of Oregon Institute of Technology (ASOIT) student government also makes its recommendation to the university president. The president then presents his recommendation to the Board of Trustees for final approval.
Both the TRC and ASOIT recommended increasing the academic year 2023-24 base tuition and fees by 5% to Oregon Tech President Nagi Naganathan, who then recommended a 4.9% increase to the Board, which the Board approved.
“As a Board, one of our most important functions is managing the University’s balanced budget and, as an integral part of that process, establishing tuition,” Board Chair John Davis said. “In decades past, the State of Oregon helped public colleges and universities with over 70% of our budget needs. Unfortunately, over the past 20 years, the State of Oregon has transitioned to covering less than 25% of our budget. This puts the weight of our budget on our students and external grant and fundraising efforts. This year, the Board unanimously approved this 4.9% increase, and we are thankful for the work of students, faculty, staff, and others who served on the Tuition Recommendation Committee to keep this tuition increase under inflation.”
In his proposal, President Naganathan thanked members of the TRC, Incidental Fee Committee work groups, and ASOIT for conducting a thorough and collaborative process through open and supportive deliberations.
“These deliberations engaged stakeholders at all levels in reaching a recommendation in a challenging state budget environment,” Naganathan said. “The university is committed to continuously improving operational efficiencies to offset cost increases triggered by the current economic climate and the lingering effects of the pandemic, and meet budget challenges which are further compounded by unpredictable levels of state funding.”
The tuition increase will become effective fall term of the 2023-24 academic year.
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