At their last meeting of the year, SGA was informed about the proposed tuition increase for the 2018 fiscal year.
Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance Diane Newton said the increase is needed so the university can attract and retain faculty and staff, fill positions for critical programming, incorporate strategic initiatives and increase scholarship offerings.
For students taking 15 hours a semester, tuition would increase by $300.
Room and board costs with an All Access plus 50 Dining Dollars and a double room would increase by $270.
President Houston Davis said UCA wanted to have a “robust” pool of money for last dollar scholarships.
“We don’t want kids who are in academically good standing to be purged from their classes because they’ve run out of money,” Davis said.
Newton said the university has also made room in the proposed budget to renovate either Carmichael Hall, Conway Hall, Hughes Hall or State Hall.
The board of trustees will make the final decision at its meeting on May 5 at 10 a.m.
SGA was unable to vote on the issue because they were not informed about the proposed increase soon enough and were unable to draft a resolution before the meeting.
SGA also reviewed their Student Activity Fee Allocation fund that they allocated to student organizations over the year.
The allocations funded SGA’s free printing service, student workers, I.D.E.A.L. programs and readership programs.
“This is a lot of money and it’s all for a good cause,” Senior Vice President of Finance Ryan Pfaff said.
SGA also voted unanimously to make SGA Graduate a fully functioning committee.
