By Associated Press - Wednesday, March 4, 2020

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The University of New Mexico has announced plans to raise tuition 2.6% for current students while giving employees a 4% pay raise. The proposed increase comes a week after the university announced it will offer free tuition for first-time students whose families make $50,000 or less.

The tuition increase also comes amid an anticipated 6% drop in enrollment, university leaders said.

“We were fortunate that the Legislature gave us additional money this year, so that’s going to faculty salaries and other initiatives to help students,” said Dan Garcia, university vice president of enrollment management.

The university is also planning on increasing base tuition for out-of-state students 5% next year, and another 5% the next two years. For students taking 15 credit hours, base tuition is currently $10,857.84, not including an additional $787.92 in student fees.

In-state students have a base tuition of $2,709, not including $984.90 in fees.

“It’s definitely a hard pill to swallow because representing the undergraduate population we feel as though students don’t want to see those increases,” said Adam Biederwolf, President of Associated Students of the University of New Mexico. “So our goal going into this process was to make tuition increases as low as possible and I think we accomplished that goal with our process this year.”

The tuition increase and subsequent employee raise gained preliminary approval from New Mexico Board of Regent committees on Monday. Budget recommendations will next go before the full board, which votes to set tuition, fees and compensation before approving the entire university budget in May.

Despite an expected increase in state appropriations next year, reductions the university faced in recent years and a significant enrollment slide are forcing the university to make cuts to academic affairs and other university operations, University President Garnett Stokes said.

Leaders settled on a 2.6% base tuition increase, because that’s the average estimated increase nationwide from the Higher Education Price Index, an inflation guide for colleges and universities, she said.

“I mean it works I guess,” current student Kyle Rotzoll told KOB-TV. “The freshman community is something new, somebody coming in so you got to take care of those. I don’t see anything wrong with it. I did take $12,500 for this year in student loans so it is rough but the future is key right?”

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