Differential tuition weighed

Some UNLV students could be paying a lot more than others next fall if the university's administration has its way.

Neal Smatresk, president of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said he wants to increase the fees dramatically for upper level nursing, architecture and physical therapy programs.

The nursing and architecture programs have averaged almost as many applications in the past three years as they have students enrolled at graduate and undergraduate levels. Physical therapy, which is only a graduate program, receives more than three times as many applications each year as it has students enrolled.

"All three of these programs are highly selective," he said. "They have many applicants who get turned away."

Last month, the higher education system's Board of Regents approved a new policy that will allow the state's colleges and universities to seek the board's OK to charge higher fees for high-demand, high-cost programs. The intent of the new policy, known as differential tuition, is to help offset the costs of some expensive programs.

Typically, tuition and fees pay only a small portion of a public college or university's cost, with taxpayers picking up the rest of the bill. But with more budget cuts expected next year after cuts in the previous two years, money has become tight.

Differential tuition has become popular elsewhere in recent years. Such policies have been enacted in Wisconsin, Oregon, South Carolina and Iowa, among others.

The new policy in Nevada says money raised through the higher fees should be kept in separate accounts for each program, ensuring it is spent on that program. The board does not intend for the money to be sent to the state's general fund, as regular tuition and fees are.

To help offset the costs for lower income students, the policy also mandates that 15 percent of the funds received through the extra fees at universities and the state college must be set aside for need-based financial aid. The community colleges must set aside 10 percent for that purpose.

A school spokeswoman said the College of Southern Nevada won't be implementing the differential fees in the coming academic year. Nevada State College probably won't, either.

"Our mission is to serve low-income, first-generation, underrepresented students, so we need to be very careful we don't exclude students," said Erika Beck, the state college's provost.

She said they are looking into whether the school's nursing program would be a good candidate for higher fees, but have not yet decided. She said it was unlikely that the college would ask for the regents approval by December, the deadline set by the board to implement the fees by next year.

But Smatresk has been pushing for higher fees at UNLV for some programs for more than a year. He has pointed out that local private universities charge nursing students far more than UNLV does. Fees for in-state students at UNLV currently run about $6,000 per year no matter the program. Nursing students at Touro University and the University of Southern Nevada, two local private universities, pay more than three times that amount.

Under the proposal Smatresk plans to submit for board approval, students in the affected programs would pay the same fees they always have for freshman and sophomore level courses. But for upper division courses, the per credit fee would be higher.

UNLV charges $136 per credit now for undergraduate courses and $217 per credit for graduate courses. There are additional surcharges, and course and lab fees in some classes. The board's policy does not set a limit on how much extra fees the colleges and universities will be allowed to charge. The board, however, will have to approve all new fees.

Smatresk said a decision has not yet been made on how much the additional per-credit fee would be at UNLV, but he expected it to be about twice the current fee. At twice the fee, a typical full-time student in the affected programs would pay $2,000 per semester more than students in other programs.

He said it is possible that only new students will have to pay the higher fees, with returning students paying under the current system. He said the details are yet to be worked out.

Together, the three programs account for less than 7 percent of the university's overall enrollment, 1,800 out of 28,000 students. The three were among six that were initially recommended for higher fees during a program review last spring. That review, led by the provost and a committee of faculty, staff and students, ultimately recommended the elimination of several departments and programs at the university when it had to cut $9 million from its budget.

Smatresk said there were several programs that wanted to be allowed to charge higher fees, but he did not believe they fit the criteria.

Smatresk said a key element of the policy is that the extra money would stay with the program rather than go into the general fund.

Chancellor Dan Klaich said the same thing. Although the state law is unclear on the matter, Klaich drafted such language into the policy as adopted by the board.

"Funds generated from a differential program fee shall be expended on goods and services directly related to the program," it reads in part. "Appropriate levels of state support for the program shall continue."

But the Board of Regents has no say over how much state support the higher ed system gets. That's up to the Legislature and the governor. Klaich said his big worry is that lawmakers will use tuition increases, including this one, to shrink support for higher education.

"We believe that a greater burden of the cost is going to be shifted to students and their families," he said.

Higher ed leaders have been planning for that shift, raising tuition and fees nearly 40 percent in the past five years. But Klaich said there is a point at which such increases cannot continue.

"It's reasonable to do it in such a way where the fees are kept on the campuses," he said.

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@review
journal.com or 702-383-0307.