LINCOLN — The University of Nebraska Board of Regents voted Thursday to increase tuition rates across NU by about 4.25% this fall, the third straight annual increase at NU.
Regents voted 6-2, the same margin as last year, to approve NU’s $1.19 billion operating budget. Regents Kathy Wilmot of Beaver City and Rob Schafer of Beatrice again opposed the budget following tuition hikes in 2025, to an average of 5%, and an average of 3.5% in 2024.
People are also reading…
Wilmot again worried about increasing tuition alongside rising housing costs and student fees, and she urged greater scrutiny of how student dollars are being used.
“I’m afraid we are pricing students out of their opportunity to get them an education, and that’s not what I came here to do,” said Wilmot, who is now in her fourth year as a regent.
The new tuition rates translate to an increase, per credit hour, of $12 for a resident University of Nebraska-Lincoln undergraduate, $40 for a nonresident UNL undergraduate, $16 for a resident UNL graduate student and $48 for a nonresident graduate student.
‘Modest inflationary increase’
Multiple regents and NU President Jeffrey Gold echoed Wilmot’s concerns but said the inflation-based increase was needed to mitigate future budget cuts and also give non-unionized faculty and staff pay increases, many of whom did not see an increase last year as campus leaders pursued plans to trim more than $40 million across the NU system.
Dr. Gold described using the Consumer Price Index to calculate the inflation bump as a “predictable and objective mechanism for maintaining purchasing power in the face of inflation.”
“As always, affordability and accessibility of high-quality academic programs remain the university’s top priority,” Gold said. “And this modest inflationary increase … will ensure Nebraska’s online and in-person tuition rates remain extremely low when compared to peers and other institutions across the country.”
The latest budget also calls for $8 million in cuts. Gold said much of those reductions have already been achieved and will consist of “careful planning, voluntary retirement programs, administrative consolidation and operational efficiency.”
“We remain committed to fiscal responsibility, affordability and ensuring that every dollar, every dollar entrusted to us … is used in ways that support our students, our mission and the future of the State of Nebraska,” Gold said.
State funding has slowed
NU leaders also lamented that the tuition hike comes after the Legislature and Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, himself a former regent for 10 years, gave NU a 0.62% increase in state funding this next budget year.
NU had requested an inflation-based increase of 3.5% in state funding in each of the two years of the current state budget. Pillen had originally proposed cutting NU’s budget by 2% in the first year.
Regent Barbara Weitz of Omaha said in addition to general funding, the Legislature needs to consider not passing on costs to NU without additional funding. While philanthropy could step up and “try and plug those holes,” Weitz said NU can’t be dependent on philanthropic support.
“It seems like this is pretty small, ‘students can handle this,’ but then you add the next thing and the next thing and the next thing, and pretty soon, it’s out of reach,” Weitz said.
She encouraged her fellow regents, Nebraskans and NU supporters to help spread the word about NU’s success and, if anyone has ideas for how to break the budget-cutting cycle, to reach out to their elected representatives.
“I really wish we had more resources, and I’m doing my darndest to come up with ideas for that, and I know my colleagues are as well,” Weitz said.
‘We owe it to the state’
Regent Tim Clare of Lincoln, now in his 18th year as a regent, is not seeking reelection. He encouraged NU to think of a few priorities in which Nebraska can “lead the world” and help stabilize the state’s economy so that, in hard economic times, such as in agriculture, the hurt is less.
Omaha Regents Jack Stark and Joel Makovicka, who succeeded former NU Regent Elizabeth O’Connor in February, will also leave the board after this year.
“I really encourage the remaining members on this board and our leadership to figure out what we’re going to be really good at, set a roadmap and get it done,” Clare said. “We owe it to the state. We owe it to our students. We owe it to the faculty. We owe it to the world.”
Regent Jim Scheer of Norfolk, a former state lawmaker who served as speaker of the Legislature for half of his eight years of service, said higher education is in a “precarious situation” nationwide. While NU has had to eliminate classes and programs, he noted other universities haven’t been as lucky and have had to eliminate campuses.
Scheer said he did not have a solution and expressed empathy for students and families, who are bearing about 80% of the cost of NU’s increased budget as state dollars slow.
“I don’t disagree with President Gold that the four-and-a-quarter percent might be modest, but if you’re struggling, zero is difficult, let alone four-and-a-[quarter] percent,” Scheer said. “I think we need to be mindful of that.”
Other meeting items
In other agenda items Thursday, all of which were approved unanimously:
- The confirmation of interim University of Nebraska Medical Center Chancellor H. Dele Davies as the ninth permanent chancellor. Dr. Davies has served as interim chancellor since July 2024, when Gold, the previous chancellor for 10 years, became president.
- The creation of the University of Nebraska Artificial Institute, a system-wide initiative meant to enhance existing programs and efforts to advance AI research, teaching and public engagement. Gold said it will “serve society, grow Nebraska’s economy and help future generations survive and thrive in the AI era.”
- The elimination of a bachelor of science in education, physics 7-12 teaching endorsement at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. NU offers a broader 7-12 science teaching endorsement that covers biology, chemistry, physical sciences and physics.
- The creation of a bachelor of science in education, family and consumer sciences occupational 6-12 teaching endorsement at UNK. The campus offers all but one needed course already, for which resources have been identified, and Nebraska has a shortage of about 175 FCS teaching positions statewide.
- The elimination of bachelor’s degrees in Russian in the UNL Department of Modern Languages and Literature.
This story is provided by States Newsroom, a nonprofit state news network and Blox Digital content partner.
