At the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents meeting on May 1, some of the items the board approved were guaranteed tuition rates, parking fees, graduate tuition fee increase and differential designated tuition charge to replace College Enhancement Fees for each college at Tarleton.

The approved guaranteed tuition rates for undergraduates will begin in fall 2014. This will provide a known cost for students and parents over a four-year period.

“Students will see a slight inflationary increase for the Fall 2014, but will not see additional increases in mandatory tuition and fees for the length of the guarantee,” director of business services and controller Lori Beaty said.

The fees differ between classification and college. For example, a freshman in the College of Business Administration will have a 5.9 percent increase and a senior in the same college will see an increase of 2.4 percent.

“The Texas A&M University System requested that we consolidate all College Instructional Enhancement Fees into a Designated Tuition Differential for each college,” Beaty said. “Differentials for College of Business Administration, Engineering and Nursing were already existing. Because these fees vary by college, the charges per program vary as well. As far as the classifications, each class has a different guarantee period. Rates for incoming freshmen in the fall semester, will be guaranteed for four years. Sophomores are guaranteed for three years, juniors for two and seniors for one. The guarantee formula averages the inflation rate over the length of the guarantee, causing the percentage increase to vary slightly.”

The program with the highest increase in tuition rates is engineering with the College of Science and Technology with 7.5 percent.

In addition, 17 fees were collapsed into the University Services Fee. The base rate for this new fee is $59.86 per semester credit hour.

According to Beaty, the collapsed fee is expected to be revenue neutral to the University based on fiscal year 2013 data.

“[This] provides simplicity and a straight forward approach for students and parents,” Tarleton State University president Dr. F. Dominic Dottavio said. “An analogy used by one administrator at the Board of Regents meeting was to, ‘Think of having to manage and pay for 17 different bank accounts for all of your household expenses instead of just one.’”

The fees collapsed include: student service fee, off campus program fee, yearbook fee, ag facilities fee, writing intensive course fee, first year experience fee, graduation fee, testing fee, academic support and advising fee, computer access fee, distance education fee, instructional equipment fee, library access fee, student endowment fee, ID system fee, international education fee and records fee.

An increase to parking fees for faculty, staff and students to $75 a year was also approved by the board. Currently, the fee is $25 a semester, $10 a summer for students and $50 a year for faculty and staff.

“It becomes beneficial to students when the fee can support maintenance and development of new lots,” Dottavio said. “Without the additional fee it becomes difficult to offer everyone parking and we would need to consider restricting parking. Tarleton has one of the lowest parking fee rates across Texas for students, faculty and staff. This fee has not been adjusted in more than a decade.”

The board also approved a graduate tuition fee increase from $30/SCH to $50/SCH rate.

“An increase in graduate enrollment is a key piece of our strategic plan and elevating the university’s academic profile,” Dottavio said. “Funds made available from the proposed increase would initiate and sustain strategic goals of the university, Academic Affairs and the Graduate College for graduate education by significantly increasing levels of graduate research/grant activity among students and expanding the Fort Worth and Waco infrastructure to provide administrative and organization structure, student and faculty support and facilities for graduate-level work.”

In addition, new degrees were approved including a doctorate in ecosystem science and management and a Masters in accounting. Four Bachelor of Science degrees in public health, mechanical engineering technology, electrical engineering and civil engineering were also approved.

Other degrees in planning are Bachelor of Science in construction engineering technology, Bachelor of Arts in dance, Masters of social work, and Master of Science in sports medicine/athletic training and doctorate in criminal justice.

“As a key piece of our strategic plan and elevating the university’s academic profile, we are able to provide higher quality faculty and are working toward increasing the quality of selected programs across campus,” Dottavio said.