By Emily Rodriguez
Provost Snow confirmed today the Board of Regents approved Texas A&M University-San Antonio’s request to increase the University Service Fee by a rate of 1.93 percent.
Based on today’s decision, this semester’s $1,500.50 fee will increase to $1,570.57 for undergraduate students enrolled in 15 semester credit hours starting Fall 2015.
As required by Texas Education Code, Section 54.0513(f), the Board of Regents held a public hearing Nov. 6 at Texas A&M University-College Station, to receive input from students and the public regarding the proposed changes in tuition and fees for members of the A&M System. The Board of Regents can not increase tuition without holding a public hearing.
Students will be locked into a guaranteed tuition rate for nine consecutive semesters for new and returning undergraduate students providing a fixed-rate tuition if they graduate on time.
The University Services Fee covers expenses for academic advising, library services, transcripts, student IDs, distance learning, campus safety and security, transportation, information technology and scholarships.
A&M-San Antonio administration held the first of two public hearings Nov. 5 to discuss the anticipated 1.93 percent increase in the University Service Fee for the 2015-2016 academic year; to an audience of three people.
Rick Trefzer, chief information officer and acting vice president for finance and administration, led the 10-minute PowerPoint presentation.
“We just wanted to have a public meeting to make people aware of some of the things that are being proposed for Fall 2015 in terms of guaranteed tuition and fees for new students,” Trefzer said.
The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents requires each institution to provide a mandatory guaranteed tuition and fee plan for undergraduate students for the Fall 2014 semester in accordance to House Bill 29, signed by Gov. Rick Perry in June 2013.
The University Service Fee rate was calculated using the four-year Consumer Price Index.
“The new anticipated revenue from this increase in CPI will be approximately $44,000. We anticipate using that for support faculty and academic instruction expenses,” Trefzer said.
The plan excludes non-mandatory fees such as e-book course fees, field trip fees, study abroad fees, lab fees, distance education fees and other non-academic costs.
A student taking 15 hours at this university can expect to pay $3,727.05 in tuition and fees, an increase of $70.57, per semester.
