This story was updated at 5:32 p.m.
The University of Vermont will hold the line on tuition, room and board for the next academic year.
UVM President Suresh Garimella said Monday he’s asked the board of trustees to approve a freeze on both tuition and room-and-board costs, and a reduction in students’ “comprehensive fee.”
This is the second straight tuition freeze recommended by Garimella, but the freeze on room and board will be the first in more than 30 years.
In the past, UVM tuition has typically increased about 3% a year, with room and board rising about 3.2%. UVM’s current tuition rate is $16,392 for Vermont residents and $41,280 for out-of-state students. A 3% tuition increase would have brought in $7 million to $8 million in the next school year.
The total cost of attendance, which includes tuition, room and board, fees, books and personal expenses, is $35,882 for in-state students and $61,130 for out-of-state students.
At a press conference Monday afternoon, Garimella echoed the sentiments he expressed in the last tuition freeze, saying that “annual tuition increases — even modest ones — are not the solution to budget pressures facing higher education.”
The third component of Garimella’s announcement is that the $2,670 “comprehensive fee,” which funds athletics, health, library resources, academic support services, career counseling and student organizations, will be reduced in the upcoming academic year, though he said it’s still unclear by how much.
The announcement comes as UVM finishes a $95 million upgrade to athletic facilities.
Garimella said last year’s tuition freeze was the first in more than 40 years. He made the “historic” announcement during the beginning of the pandemic, which he says has had significant economic impacts on UVM.
“Universities throughout the nation are struggling,” he said. “The economic impact of Covid has been enormous, and laid bare a financial model that must adapt to current realities to best serve the interests of our students.”
However, Garimella said it would be neither “prudent nor practical” for families and students to bear the brunt of continued rising costs, particularly with UVM having the fourth-highest tuition of any public university in the country.
“Many of us believe that this year, our enrollment held to the levels that it did because we froze our tuition,” he said.
Garimella said the costs incurred by the university because of the pandemic “far exceed” the funds provided by state and federal governments to offset losses.
Garimella noted the majority of staff took a 5% wage cut at the beginning of the pandemic, with senior leaders taking still larger cuts, saving money to avoid layoffs where possible. He also pointed at the school’s freeze in hiring “except in special cases,” and $11.5 million reduction in expenses as ways the school has worked creatively to reduce costs during the pandemic.
He said there are no planned cuts associated with the tuition freeze, but “I think we need to continue to look at our academic offerings in terms of how structural budget realities can be addressed,” Garimella said.
Julie Roberts, president of UVM’s faculty union, said the union is “wholeheartedly supportive” of keeping tuition more affordable for students.
“The only question, though, is how UVM plans to fill the budget gap,” she said. “This is a question every year, because whether tuition is only raised a little bit or not raised at all, for many years the state appropriation has been inadequate to support both UVM and the Vermont State Colleges.”
Roberts said it is “not at all” clear to her where the money to fill the budget gap is coming from, but she hopes Garimella keeps his promise that it won’t be “built on the backs of employees.”
In an attempt to offset some of the potential losses, Garimella announced a final component of the effort to promote accessibility and affordability at UVM — a new fundraising push to raise $150 million in financial support for graduate and undergraduate students at UVM.
Garimella said $18 million has already been raised, and he is confident the $150 million goal can be exceeded.
Garimella became president of UVM in July 2019. He had been Purdue University’s executive vice president for research and partnerships. While Garimella was at Purdue, the university froze tuition at 2012 levels for undergraduates — a move that drew significant media attention.
“Our hope is that more students see UVM as a good bet, not only because we’re making it financially feasible, but also because we’re among the top universities in the country with handling Covid, with positive rates at effectively zero,” he said.
