Nevada college tuition set to increase

Nevada higher education faces a nearly $50 million fiscal shortfall, prompting officials to vote on increased tuition.

Facing a multimillion-dollar fiscal gap, the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Board of Regents voted last month to raise tuition for the state’s eight public colleges and universities. 

During a packed special meeting, regents approved a new institutional pricing model to address a $46.5 million fiscal gap. Higher education officials and administrators largely backed the changes, saying the move would help preserve school programs and values, even as students, campus organizations, and professors raised concerns about affordability.

The institutions will see a 9% to 12% tuition increase, to be implemented gradually over the next three years, to account for inflation, The Nevada Independent reports.

“A value education begins with reinvestment in students, not asking them to absorb the cost of systemic failures,” said Kelechi Odunze, UNLV student body president, during public comment.

Students at four-year colleges or in upper-division courses are already seeing a 12.6% inflation hike. 

Prices for community college courses will increase by 9%. That translates to a yearly increase of $1,200 in in-state registration fees at UNLV and UNR, a $900 increase at Nevada State University, and a $400 increase at lower-division community colleges, according to the impact chart on the presentation. Out-of state tuition will rise more than $1,300 for lower and upper division college courses, roughly $3,000 for Nevada State University, and more than $3,800 for UNR and UNLV.

Regents reconciled the tuition increase with the affordability of Nevada’s colleges and universities relative to some others. Nevada’s four-year universities offer some of the nation’s most affordable programs, costing thousands of dollars less than the national average, but two-year colleges are priced slightly above similar US schools, according to the NSHE data.

UNLV and UNR were already affected by federal cuts that stripped tens of millions of dollars from research programs and disrupted diversity scholarships as part of the White House crusade against diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“We confirmed with our financial aid and scholarships office that UNLV has no endowed scholarships that require a specific race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or creed to obtain funding,” Director of Public Affairs at UNLV, Francis McCabe, wrote in an email.