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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah State Board of Regents will contract with an outside consultant for a comprehensive review of tuition and student aid policies as related to resident and nonresident students.
"We need to consider, that given our own capacity issues, we need to consider in our Utah System of Higher Education what is the right mix of resident students and nonresidents," David Buhler, commissioner of higher education, told state lawmakers Tuesday.
Buhler, addressing the Legislature’s Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee, said anticipated enrollment growth from residents will translate into capacity issues for state colleges and universities.
According to 2017 enrollment projections, more than 61,000 students are expected to be added to state campuses over the next 10 years. Full-time equivalent enrollment at the state's eight public colleges and universities was 126,930 last fall.
There will also be impacts "as we get more successful in outreaching to those populations that are not likely currently to go to college and succeed in college, which we need to do to have a robust workforce in our state and help their quality of life as individuals," he said.
Buhler also reported that the regents in May approved a policy change that calls on Utah college and universities to increase the use of tuition waivers to assist "impecunious" resident students. They are defined as Utah residents "whose demonstrated lack of financial resources presents a significant barrier to accessing higher education or completing a higher education," according to regents policy.
The policy change dovetails with the board's long-term objectives of affordable participation, timely completion and innovative discovery.
