Full-time Arizona State University students will see a $350 hike in their tuition bills next semester, as the school looks to overcome budget shortfalls.
The recent state budget passed by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Katie Hobbes reduced the school's budget by $11 million, as well as funding for the Arizona Teachers Academy and the Arizona Promise Scholarship Program, "pushing the estimated real ASU impact from the budget reductions to about $24 million when compared with the prior year," the university said in a Monday statement.
Part-time ASU students will also see a proportionate tuition increase.
"We have to consider our options to advance the university in a financially sound way," ASU President Michael M. Crow said. "For whatever reason, state leaders want the public universities to be tuition-driven, independently funded and to advance on their own."
ASU officials noted that more than 2,600 Arizona resident students could be impacted by the expected decrease in funding for its scholarship program, which typically ensures all tuition and fees are covered at Arizona's public universities for eligible residents.
The university also plans to close its Lake Havasu Center in the summer of 2025. Its discontinuation will affect approximately 225 students and 20 employees.
"These necessary actions reflect the continuing lack of public investment from state government for higher education in Arizona,'' Crow said. "ASU simply cannot be asked to fund the expansion of higher education across the state without state investment as a part of the financial structure to do so."
According to University Provost Nancy Gonzales, the school will meet with current Lake Havasu students and create personalized plans to ensure that they finish their degrees online or at one of the ASU campuses.
"It's disappointing that state leaders do not see the value of higher education in places like Lake Havasu City," Gonzales added. "ASU will continue to do all that it can to serve that portion of the state through ASU Online and agreements with our community college partners."
