Regents back 2 percent tuition hike

PORTALES — With a goal to keep prices down for students and a hope that it might attract more New Mexico residents considering college, the Eastern New Mexico University Board of Regents on Friday backed a smaller-than-recommended tuition hike for 2020-21.

Administration recommended a 3% hike in both tuition and fees, but regents opted for a 2% tuition hike and no changes to fees. According to ENMU’s website, one credit hour breaks down to $166.50 for New Mexico residents or $249.75 for non-residents in tuition and $102.25 in fees. The university does charge $17 in fees per credit hour for online classes, and individual classes may carry their own fees.

Scott Smart, vice president for business affairs, told regents the best practice going forward is to budget assuming a 1% decline in enrollment. He noted ENMU has many of the same recurring expenses each year, but it’s seen some of its revenue streams drop. One such place is the university bookstore, which brought in $2.7 million three years ago but brought in $1.6 million last year as many instructors are using open-source materials.

Regents didn’t like the notion of having to decide tuition costs in November, since they have no idea what the state will provide the university in funding until the legislative session is complete in February.

Smart said he wants to have optimism ENMU would do well in the session, but it has to be guarded optimism.

“I thought that last year,” Smart said, “but none of that (2019 surplus) went to higher ed.”

Brent Small, ENMU’s director of financial aid, said deciding on tuition in November was part of the timeline that helped ENMU push itself as an option to students in the spring.

“You don’t want to tell them one number, another number in three months and another number in six months,” Small said.

Regent Lance Pyle said low tuition and fees was a good recruiting tool, and noted it’s tough for students when costs increase. He brought up a call he received from a non-traditional student taking one three-credit class. Once the course fees were calculated, Pyle said the cost was $857 and nearly half of it was in fees that would pay for things that student never uses.

Smart noted that ENMU keeps its costs pretty low — “I think we’re as lean and mean as we can be” — but it has drawbacks. For example, any drop in student enrollment means fewer student fees are collected, and there might not be enough to cover the $4 million athletics budget that already competes against West Texas A&M and its $16 million athletics budget.

Smart also noted the school has numerous infrastructure projects on the horizon, such as an upcoming demolition of Bernalillo Hall with anticipated costs of $2 million; the best way to get state help is to have money for cash matches on hand.

Regent Dan Patterson proposed the 2% tuition hike with no student fee increases, with carryover money covering any student fee deficit.

Nobody in the room knew what other universities in the state were planning for their 2020-21 tuition rates, since those same discussions were taking place with their trustees and regents. But they knew their choices might pull some students to ENMU that might have otherwise attended another New Mexico school.

“It is competitive,” ENMU Chancellor Jeff Elwell said. “Maybe not New Mexico Tech, but everybody else, we’re looking at the same students.”

Smart asked regents what they’d do in a few years if enrollment did drop and a higher tuition and fees hike would be needed to balance the books from their Friday vote.

“Then we know we took a chance in something we wanted to do,” Patterson said, “and it didn’t work.”