With budget, enrollment, and healthcare number all in flux, the University of Kentucky is considering more modest tuition hikes for the coming year.
Like institutions across the country, UK will be navigating uncharted territory in the coming semester as it attempts to reboot during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the potential for a second wave of cases in the fall and campus reopening plans yet to be finalized, many students are taking longer to decide when it comes to enrollment.
Their decision will determine how many aspects of the budget shape up in the coming months - from a projected $72 million shortfall to department belt-tightening spanning the entire university.
Facing those variables and a host of others, the school's board of trustees is weighing a 1 percent tuition increase for in-state students and a 2 percent hike for out-of-state enrollees. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports it's the smallest increase at UK in the past decade.
Yet it may not sit well with students who are already frustrated by fees they've paid while classes shifted online and they were sent home. One student has sued the school, claiming it should have given partial refunds for tuition and fees meant to fund on-campus services and facilities that have not been available during the shutdown.
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