University Of Oklahoma Regents Approve 7 Percent Tuition, Fee Increase

The University of Oklahoma Board of Regents has approved a 7 percent tuition and fee increase for Fiscal Year 2017. It’s the largest hike for OU students since 2008.

OU President David Boren said during Tuesday’s Regents meeting that OU operates with $160 million less than it did in 2008, despite a 1,000-1,500 increase in the number of students.

Read the entire June 21, 2016 Regents agenda. The tutition proposal appears on page 407

Higher education saw a nearly 16 percent cut in state appropriations over the prior fiscal year, which will mean a $35 million decrease in state funding to the Norman campus, the Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, and OU-Tulsa.

The school’s approximately $2 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 breaks down to $1.1 billion for the HSC, and $941 million for the Norman campus.

Boren described a “critical budget crisis” at the university as a result of the state funding cut, and said he’s seen Oklahoma’s contribution to OU drop from 32 percent 20 years ago, to just 12 percent last year.

Boren said OU plans to increase its financial aid budget in order to help offset costs for students who may not otherwise be able to afford to attend college.

Cameron University also approved a 7 percent tuition and fee increase during Tuesday’s meeting, and Oklahoma State University announced a similar move last week.

The Regents also approved salary increases for several OU athletics coaches, including a nearly $400,000 increase to football assistant coach Lincoln Riley. The first-year offensive coordinator won the Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in the country in 2015, and saw his salary bumped from $500,000 to just under $900,000.

Boren, OU vice presidents, and deans will all take a 3 percent salary cut, but Boren said during the meeting that OU’s athletic department subsidizes academics, not the other way around.

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