KNOXVILLE — Most University of Tennessee students will be paying 7.5 percent more in tuition and fees when they enroll for classes this fall.
Undergraduate students from Tennessee at UT-Knoxville will pay $2,028 per semester, up from $1,892. In-state graduate students will pay $2,295 this fall, a $155 hike. The UT Board of Trustees approved the increases Friday.
Out-of-state undergraduate students at Knoxville will pay $6,204 a semester starting this fall — an increase of $176.
Undergraduate and graduate tuition and fees at UT’s Chattanooga and Martin campus are slightly lower than Knoxville, but include a 7.5 percent increase.
Professional and health programs will have tuition increases of up to 28 percent (pharmacy), but Tennesseans attending the College of Law in Knoxville will only pay 7.5 percent more this fall.
UT President John W. Shumaker said in his recommendation to the board that university administrators were mindful of the General Assembly’s request to raise undergraduate tuition no higher than 7.5 percent.
“We agree students fees need to remain affordable in a state that needs more Tennesseans with a college degree,” Shumaker said. “The jobs of the future require a better-educated workforce, and we must not price higher education beyond the reach of average Tennesseans.”
Shumaker said he will be talking with students, faculty, staff and others over the next few months to make sure every UT department is spending “every dollar wisely and efficiently.”
The board also approved a compensation plan that will permit employees to receive pay increases, and the trustees gave the go-ahead to a proposal that addresses the loss of salary, compensatory time and annual leave of UT employees due to last week’s shutdown of state government.