ASU Tuition Hike and Budget Cuts Signal Declining Investment in Arizona Higher Education

Arizona State University (ASU) revealed significant changes to address budget cuts imposed by the state Legislature. Among the measures are a tuition surcharge, cuts to critical programs like the Arizona Teachers Academy and the Arizona Promise Program, and the closure of the Lake Havasu center, which will impact thousands of students and staff.

Effective spring 2025, full-time on-campus students will incur an additional tuition surcharge of $350, with part-time students facing a proportional increase.

The Arizona Teachers Academy, which assists students committing to teach in Arizona public schools, will enroll 800 fewer new participants. Additionally, funding for the Arizona Promise Program, designed to support in-state low-income students, will see a reduction of $10.9 million, potentially affecting over 2,600 students.

ASU President Michael Crow expressed concern over the cuts. “These necessary actions reflect the continuing lack of public investment from state government for higher education in Arizona,” he stated. Crow emphasized that without sufficient state support, ASU cannot facilitate the growth of higher education in the state.

In fiscal year 2024, Arizona ranked third lowest in per capita spending on higher education, allocating just $183 per person. This starkly contrasts with other Republican-controlled states such as Texas and Louisiana, which spent $452 and $360, respectively.

A report from ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business highlighted a notable decline in higher education funding from state and local governments, which dropped by 23 percentage points in Arizona from fiscal years 2009 to 2022, compared to a national average decrease of 4 percentage points.

Taina Fonseca, a sophomore journalism major, voiced her concerns about the additional costs, stating, “As a transfer student, I’m already paying $40,000 a year. So the extra money is going to be hard to pay off.” She believes the surcharge could lead many into deeper debt, as students may resort to taking out loans.

Alberto Plantillas, central regional director for the Arizona Students’ Association and a graduate student, criticized the government’s focus on budget cuts to education while professing support for it.

State senators from both parties acknowledged that the cuts are unfortunate. Senator Christine Marsh (D-Phoenix) lamented, “Higher education is a phenomenal economic driver for the state, and yet we are not appropriately investing in it.” She noted a persistent adversarial outlook towards higher education from the majority in the Legislature.

When questioned about the Democratic response to these cuts, Marsh conceded there may be a shared responsibility but affirmed that Governor Katie Hobbs fought vigorously for higher education funding. The recently passed Arizona state budget followed complex negotiations that spanned weeks.

Senator Ken Bennett (R-Prescott) remarked on the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the university budgets, attributing it to a convergence of factors including inflation difficulties and public reluctance to support tax increases.

Marsh added that the legislative body’s priorities directly influence funding decisions. Bennett, however, disagreed with the notion that there was a deliberate strategy to underfund higher education compared to other states.

He explained that competing demands within the state budget leave universities to manage on limited funding. Meanwhile, Plantillas stressed that ASU and its students are bearing the adverse effects of ongoing cuts, which he sees as a detrimental trend for education funding in Arizona.