Tuition and fees at the University of Texas at Austin could increase at least 13 percent over the next two years, adding hundreds of dollars to students' bills, if a proposal submitted Tuesday is adopted.

Officials at Texas' biggest campus say that without enough money from the state, they must turn to families to make up the difference. But some students and lawmakers find the prospect of yet another round of tuition hikes troubling. They wonder when – or if – it will stop.

AP

The Littlefield Fountain

The increases would vary by major, sometimes significantly. But on average, in-state undergraduates would pay $636 more for the 2008-09 school year, and an additional $606 more for 2009-10. The published rates this school year run from $7,670 for liberal arts majors to $8,908 for business majors. The biggest increase – 22 percent – would be for nursing majors, whose tuition would increase from $8,254 this year to $10,072 in 2009-10.

When the costs of room, board, books and other expenses are added to tuition, the average total price tag at UT this year is $21,000 for an in-state undergraduate.

"Any kind of further burden really ends up hurting," said Tyler Creighton, a UT student from Flower Mound, expressing dismay over the proposed increases. "When you're paycheck to paycheck to begin with, $300 [more per semester] is a lot of money."

As a leader in a housing cooperative, Creighton lives among students who take a full load of classes, work at the co-op to keep living costs low and hold down paying jobs.

Several lawmakers, including Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, criticized UT's proposal as too steep.

"I'm disappointed that after [legislators'] championing an almost $2.5 billion increase in higher education funding these past two sessions, including significant increases for the University of Texas, UT continues to raise tuition and risks putting unnecessary hardship on many Texas families," Dewhurst said.

The Legislature used to limit what public universities could charge students. But lawmakers gave that power to campuses in 2003 when the state faced a budget shortfall.

"I have spoken to our public university presidents many times and told them tuition deregulation is not a 'blank check' for revenue," Dewhurst said. "They need to keep higher education affordable and accessible."

Some Texans on Capitol Hill are also worried.

"Texas used to pride itself in being a low-tuition state, and I find it troubling that increasingly this is no longer the case," said U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Texas, chairman of the House Higher Education Subcommittee.

"There is no doubt that UT-Austin's ability to provide a quality education is being squeezed by woefully inadequate state funding. However, I am concerned by the magnitude of UT-Austin's tuition hike, which not only surpasses the national average but outpaces inflation."

UT officials say their increases in state money, which average 1.8 percent a year, don't keep up with their costs, which are rising about 5 percent a year.

The proposed hikes, which were submitted by a committee of college leaders, students and others, are "directly related to the lack of adequate state funding for the basic needs," said Kevin Hegarty, UT's chief financial officer.

He and other campus leaders added that UT remains one of the best deals in higher education, and that by law, at least 20 percent of the tuition increase goes to needy students as financial aid.

UT officials say they've targeted aid so families making $40,000 or less haven't had to pay tuition increases since 2003, and families making up to $80,000 a year have borne only modest increases. Most UT students receive some type of grants, loans or other aid.

The nine academic campuses in the UT System must submit their tuition recommendations to the Board of Regents by Dec. 1. Regents are expected to vote on the proposals in February.

UT-Arlington and UT-Dallas are still preparing their tuition plans. UTA students pay $7,040 this year. UTD has a new tuition plan that charges students the same rate all four years. For this year's incoming students, the annual charge is $8,554.

Tuition recommendations are still being worked out by other major universities, including the University of North Texas and Texas A&M University.

The rising tuitions will no doubt bring demands for lawmakers to ease the burden on parents, particularly those in the working class. It's doubtful, though, that enough politicians will be willing to rethink the 2003 deregulation, which was championed by state leaders such as House Speaker Tom Craddick and Gov. Rick Perry. Mr. Perry has threatened to veto any re-regulation bill that comes across his desk.

Rep. Geanie Morrison, R-Victoria, insists that deregulation is still a good idea, saying that without it, "universities would have continued to decline."

Rep. Fred Brown, R-College Station, said he was dismayed to hear about the proposed hikes on the heels of an "extremely generous" session for state funding of higher education.

"I'm just disappointed that they would turn right around and ask for large increases from the students, because any time you do that, it reduces the number of students that can afford to go to their institution," said Brown, a member of the Education Subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations. "All it does is make the burden tougher for those students."

Legislative oversight into spending by universities "apparently needs to be strengthened," he said.

Asked whether he still supported deregulation, Brown said, "right this very minute I do. But that's a weak yes."

"I think it doesn't matter which side of the aisle that you question," he said. "There's a lot of members that are saying OK, enough's enough, why do we keep having these huge increase on top of the increases that have already happened?"

Soaring tuitions aren't just a Texas phenomenon. Last month, the College Board, a national nonprofit, reported that the average tuition and fees at four-year public schools increased 6.6 percent to $6,185 this school year, surpassing inflation. At private four-year schools it rose 6.3 percent, to $23,712.

As a counter to critics, UT often proclaims it's among the most affordable public research universities in the country. On its Web site and in the tuition proposal, UT says it ranks ninth in cost out of 12 schools, including Ohio State University, University of Illinois and the University of Michigan.

UT lists its cost as $7,670 – but that's the cost only for students in liberal arts. It's the most popular program, but also the cheapest. The real average tuition works out to around $8,130, when you figure how many students take the more expensive majors, like business and natural sciences.

That moves UT up to seventh most expensive of 12. UC-Berkeley is in sixth place at $8,385. But that includes a $1,220 health fee that about half of students get waived.

No matter UT's ranking, "We're not out of the range of what other universities are doing," President Bill Powers said.

Still, the years of steady increases are drawing scrutiny.

Last week, Hinojosa and George Miller, D-Ca., chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, introduced a bill to control rising college costs. States that don't provide enough money for higher education could lose federal dollars. It would also give colleges incentives to keep their prices in check.

UT will hold public forums on its proposal later this month and present it to various campus groups, including students, faculty, parents and alumni.

"Certainly affordability and reasonable costs are high priorities," Powers said, then added: "We also need a stable funding source."

The rising cost of UT hasn't hurt its popularity. Last year, more than 27,000 students applied, up from 22,000 in 2002, the year before tuition deregulation.