For press information, contact Curt Guenther, 901/678-2843

The Tennessee Board of Regents has approved tuition increases that will go into effect this fall at TBR-governed public universities and community colleges. At the University of Memphis, tuition for an in-state undergraduate student taking a full academic course load (12 hours) will be $3390 per semester, a 5% increase over last year’s tuition. An in-state graduate student taking a full course load (9 hours) will pay $3894 per semester, 5.16% more than last year.

This year’s tuition increases are less than last year’s, which were 5.4% for undergraduates and 7.1% for graduate students.

State funding for higher education has been reduced each of the past three years. At the U of M, state funding has been reduced nearly 27%, more than $33 million. “We need the continued support of our alumni, our friends, and our community to help offset these cuts,” said Dr. Shirley C. Raines, president of the University of Memphis. “Our employees, who have not had a raise in three years, deserve a great deal of credit for continuing to keep our students’ success paramount.”

Raines said the University has taken numerous steps to control costs, including a voluntary buyout for employees during the first year of state budget cuts, limiting hiring to fill only those positions considered critical and strategic for the University’s mission, such as faculty in the Loewenberg School of Nursing, and reducing the budgets of organizations at all levels throughout the University.

Although the students’ share of the cost of higher education in Tennessee has risen again, University of Memphis administrators have worked to keep the U of M increase as low as possible. “We have tried to balance cost-cutting and tuition increases, keeping the high quality education and the timely graduation of our students as our primary goals,” Raines said.