Douglas Says Tuition Increases Too High

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(Host) Governor Jim Douglas says he wants the University of Vermont and Vermont’s State College system to give up their plan to raise tuition for next year.

As governor, Douglas is on the board of trustees for both UVM and the State Colleges.

A UVM panel originally recommended a 6 percent tuition increase for the 2010 – 2011 school year but the request has been reduced to 4.8 percent. 

Trustees will consider the tuition hike at their meeting next month.  Douglas says he plans to personally lobby other trustees, because he thinks a 4.8 percent tuition increase is too high:

(Douglas) "That’s progress but it’s still a lot in a low inflation environment at a time when other organizations and institutions and entities are tightening their belts more so I think there should be more pressure applied."

(Host) Douglas suggested that UVM and the State Colleges reduce their costs by scaling back some of their labor agreements:

(Douglas) "I would recommend to the leaders of the institutions that they look as we did to labor savings and whether that’s re-opening negotiations in some case where contracts go out for some time in the future or negotiating ones that are expiring soon or looking at the benefits structure I think we have to recognize that that’s where most of the money is."

(Host) In the 2011 fiscal year, the Douglas Administration is proposing a $43 million appropriation for UVM and a nearly $26 million appropriation for the State Colleges.

Despite recent increases in the budget, Vermont’s spending on higher education remains one of the lowest in the country.

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