U. Alabama-Birmingham students and parents will notice a big change when classes begin in the fall—an almost 14 percent tuition increase that will go into effect August 1.

On June 18 the U. Alabama System Board of Trustees approved a resolution that will increase tuition at UAB, University of Alabama and University of Alabama at Huntsville.

For in-state students attending UAB tuition will increase 13.9 percent. UA students will see an increase of 12.9 percent and UAH students will experience a 15 percent increase.

In-state UAB students taking 15 hours will pay an extra $440 per semester starting in the fall. Out of state students will also pay about $825 more per semester on average.

According to UAB President Carol Garrison, a lack of state funding and increasing costs are to blame for the double-digit increase.

“This year presented a particularly tough challenge because our state funding has been cut by almost one-third since 2008—that’s $95 million,” said Garrison.

“There are no more ‘rainy day’ funds from the governor’s office and costs continue to increase,” she added.

According to Garrison the university plans to assist students in multiple ways including increasing efficiencies, offering $2 million extra in scholarship and fellowship support and simplifying billing.

“Starting this fall, we have greatly simplified our billing. Tuition and university-wide fees have been rolled into one charge, enabling students to estimate costs more easily,” said Garrison.

Hernandez Stroud, former USGA president and the student representative at the meeting, believes that a tuition increase was inevitable.

“UAB was allocated some twenty million dollars less than the 2009-2010 academic year by the state of Alabama. There are a number of reasons, primarily our lack of financial support from the state of Alabama, that stands as the driving force behind this tuition and fees hike,” said Stroud.

Stroud proposed two suggestions to Dr. Garrison to offset the increase.

“First, UAB should create and publish a comprehensive, easily-accessible publication on how to save money at UAB, and let’s not limit it to just scholarships, but we need to know every way possible that we can save money as students,” said Stroud.

Stroud also proposed to the board of trustees that the next student representative, which should be appointed by Dr. Garrison in July, be more involved in the decision making process of tuition increases “to facilitate fairness, transparency, and accountability.”

Even with the suggested money-saving options and increased scholarships, some students will struggle to pay their tuition.

Brit Greenup, a junior majoring in biology, is an out-of-state transfer student from Maryland.

“I think the tuition increase is ridiculous. It’s already expensive and people already can’t afford it,” said Greenup.
Greenup also fears that because of her out-of-state status she will not receive any financial assistance to help offset the costs.

“If you are an out-of-state transfer student like me then you are screwed. I have been to the financial aid office many times trying to get help from them and they won’t do anything for me,” said Greenup.

“I’m going to be over $100,000 in debt when I graduate,” added Greenup.

According to Janet May, director of student financial aid, the financial aid office offers assistance to both in-state and out-of-state students.

“If they complete the FAFSA we package any student for financial aid without any relevance to whether they are in state or out of state. We consider them for all the federal programs that we would for an in-state student,” said May.

May also said that some student’s awards might increase slightly because the tuition increase was higher than what was estimated by the financial aid office.

“Unfortunately since our board of trustees does not meet until the end of June and we don’t have the numbers and costs until the end of July, we have to make estimates in January on what we think will happen with tuition for the next academic year,” said May.

“If the actual increase is higher than our estimates then we go into our student information system at that time and put in our new numbers which can sometimes result in an increase in a student’s actual reward,” she added.
Many students though have already received their maximum award in grants and loans.

May encourages students who don’t believe they are receiving their maximum awards to contact the financial aid office through email.

Students can reach the financial aid office by calling 934-8132 or emailing finaid@uab.edu.