April 11, 2002

LITTLE ROCK - The Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas system approved increases in tuition and fees at 11 campuses.

The need for increased tuition was attributed in part to state government budget restrictions that have held down state aid to universities.

At the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, undergraduates will see tuition go up from $111.30 to $119.10 per credit hour. Undergraduates at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff will pay $88.80 per hour for on-campus courses, compared to the current rate of $83 per hour.

At the University of Arkansas at Monticello, the cost of a credit hour will increase from $79 to $83. At the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, tuition will increase from $111 per credit hour to $118.75.

At the new University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, formerly known as Westark College, the cost of a credit hour will increase from $40 to $45. Phillips Community College will increase tuition from $41 to $44. The University of Arkansas Community College at Hope will increase the per credit cost from $44 to $49 and the Community College at Batesville from $35 to $40.

The University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton, previously known as Petit Jean Technical College, will increase tuition from $48 to $58 a credit hour.

Cossatot Community College will maintain tuition at $40 a credit hour for residents of Sevier and Howard Counties. For Arkansas residents from other counties it will be $45 a credit hour.

The Board also approved tuition increases at the state's medical school, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Rates at the College of Medicine will go up from $5,040 per semester to $5,292. At the College of Pharmacy tuition will increase from $2,620 to $2,880. At the College of Nursing tuition will go from $1,428 a semester to $1,572.

The Board of Trustees of Arkansas State University at Jonesboro will consider proposed tuition increases in May.

Medicaid Lawsuit

A group of Arkansas hospitals in rural areas won the first round of their legal battle to hold off a reduction in federal Medicaid reimbursements. At their urging, a federal judge in Little Rock has postponed the effective date of new regulations that would cost the hospitals an estimated $20 million a year.

Currently, rural Arkansas hospitals get relatively high reimbursements for treating Medicaid patients because such a high percentage of their patients are poor and cannot afford to pay. Proposed federal rules would lower Medicaid reimbursements to those hospitals. Arkansas hospital administrators say lower reimbursements will cause the most harm in areas where large numbers of poor people live.

The federal government originally wanted the lower reimbursement rates to take effect in mid-April, but the judge's order will delay the effective date to May 14. That gives Arkansas officials time to build support for their case in Washington.