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Regents to Consider Different Tuition Rates

By Todd Hatton/AP

Nashville, TN – To meet state budget cuts, the Tennessee Board of Regents will look at allowing universities to have a different hourly tuition rate and lowering that rate at some schools while keeping it flat at most others.
The board in December approved a change in how tuition is charged by eliminating the 12-hour tuition "cap." Beginning fall 2009, all students will pay an hourly rate for each semester hour of classes. Currently, anything above 12 hours per semester is essentially free to students.
The board has not decided how much the tuition charge will be. Board spokeswoman Mary Morgan said Monday the board is unlikely to vote on tuition rates before June.
The board will be involved in guiding the budget-cutting efforts on campuses, with the Committee on Academic Policies and Programs taking the lead initially. The committee's first meeting on the topic is January 26th.
The Board of Regents system includes six universities, 13 two-year colleges and 26 technology centers, providing programs in 90 of Tennessee's 95 counties to more than 180,000 students.