Regents said Thursday's decision to increase tuition at the state’s colleges and universities by 4.8 percent wasn’t an easy one.
"That was the last resort for us. That was the last step we wanted to take," said Michael Kozlawski, spokesperson for the Board of Regents.
With an estimated $48.6 million budget gap, officials stressed the solution was a combination of cuts and increased tuition.
"The reason it was difficult primarily is because this administration, the BOR has a tremendous amount of empathy for students, wants to keep the burden on students as low as possible," Kozlawski said.
The plan includes over $27 million in cuts to make up 45 percent of the budget gap. The tuition hike makes up 44 percent. The remaining 11 percent will come from one-time funds originally allocated to pay for the board’s strategic plan.
Thursday’s action comes on top of a recent hiring freeze.
The increase means the average community college student in the state will pay $186 more, while university students will pay $321 more.
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"We’re really not sure that our financial aid’s going to cover this additional increase,”"said Tommi DeMichael, a student at Asnuntuck Community College who attended the regents’ board meeting.
"It’s disappointing to me that the state of Connecticut is continuing to force students to pay more and private school looks more and more appealing," added Victor Neves, a Tunxis Community College student.
While students grapple with how to pay for college, the state’s schools have the difficult task of figuring out which programs to cut to meet the regents’ reductions.
"We can’t have programs be cut anymore. First and foremost, we need to care about our academics," said John Board, who attends Western Connecticut State University.
But regents say that without those cuts, the tuition hike would be even higher.
"It sort of gave us the ability or gave us the opportunity to do the best that we could in a very bad situation," said Kozlawski.
Still students say the hike puts the state farther from its goal of making higher education more accessible and affordable.
"I’m paying out of pocket, and if tuition goes up that means that I’m probably going to have to drop the classes that I’m in right now and I’m probably not going to be a full time student," said Capitol Community College student Jose Diaz.
