University Of Colorado Regents Approve 9% Tuition Hike

UPDATE: The University of Colorado's Board of Regents voted Monday morning 8-1 in favor of a 9 percent tuition increase for in-state students next year.

The University of Colorado Board of Regents meet Monday morning to weigh a possible 9% tuition increase for Colorado residents.

The proposed hike would raise the average tuition for Colorado residents $572 annually to $7,018 per student. Out of state tuition would also go up by about $1,300 annually.

Lawmakers have slashed $623 Million from Colorado's higher education budget over the last three years, although much of that has been backfilled with federal dollars from the American Re-investment and Recovery Act (ARRA). ARRA dollars will not be available in the 2011-2012 fiscal year.

CU Regent Stephen Ludwig recently told the Denver Post that Regents would prefer not to raise tuition, but "[the Board is] at a loss to make this a win for everybody because of Colorado's complete lack of commitment to higher education."

Colorado ranks 49th nationally in state funding and tuition support for public colleges and universities.

The 9% tuition hike is the maximum allowed under state law, although the Governor's office has recently expressed openness to the idea of giving the CU Board of Regents greater flexibility to raise tuition. This represents a change of course for the Governor's office, which told the Huffington Post in November; "to allow any of those institutions to have complete flexibility for what they charge in tuition... is just not the right course."

WATCH KDVR's report: