Curtis Porter, director of the UNM Budget Office, said the University will do everything it can to keep tuition down in the coming year, which could be tight fiscally.
Porter addressed students and ASUNM members at the Senate meeting Wednesday and outlined what components make up University tuition increases.
"There are two key policy issues: tuition and fees and compensation," he said. "This year we had a 4.5 percent tuition increase. Faculty received a 3 percent increase in compensation and staff 2.5 percent."
Porter said those factors, along with a $25 increase in student fees for mental health services at the Student Health Center, are the main reasons why tuition increased this year.
He added that every year he has been at UNM, faculty and staff have drafted resolutions stating there should be no difference in their compensation packages.
The issues, however, go hand in hand, Porter said.
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"There is always going to be a tuition credit," he said. "What we lobby against is the increase in the percentage. If the regents don't match the percentage, then we no longer have money for compensation packages."
According to the UNM Board of Regents' Policy Manual, a tuition credit is the assumed level of revenue that is subtracted from the instruction and general formula funding in order to calculate the State General Fund Appropriation for any New Mexico institution of higher education.
The Commission on Higher Education makes a recommendation to the Legislature before the congressional session every January, and the tuition credit percentage is set with that recommendation in mind.
Porter said students are often confused by the term tuition credit because it sounds as if the University is gaining revenue.
"It's kind of a misnomer," he said. "You hear credit and think good things."
Porter said the CHE has received a recommendation from the state Council of University Presidents requesting no increase in the tuition credit, and the CHE will make its decision regarding what it recommends to the Legislature in November. He said state college and university appropriations are usually at the bottom of the list when the Legislature decides education funding.
"Higher education is the last thing they decide," he said. "They give with one hand and take a little back with the other."
Michael Gradoville, a UNM senior, said he thought the forum was a good way to educate the students on where their money goes.
"I thought it was very informative," Gradoville said. "It's a complicated issue. We can't blame the regents for everything. We need to contact our state representatives to make them understand that tuition increases do not help students."
Ed Mazel, ASUNM's lobbying director, agreed, saying face-to-face communication was the most effective way to express student needs.
"There are many things students can do," Mazel said. "Call your legislators. Write them. Go to Santa Fe and talk to them. The more they hear from students and see our concerns, the more likely they are to listen."
