TUITION & FEE PROCESS
GUIDELINE
Draft Policy Review
Financial Area Representatives
April 21, 2008
Audit Recommendations
Assign overall responsibility for the annual
tuition and fees update process, and prepare
process documentation to include roles,
timelines, and deliverables.
Establish criteria for excessive year end
unexpended balances and request
documentation supporting the justification for
the accumulation.
Tuition & Fee Process Guideline Scope

Designated tuition and mandatory, college/course,
laboratory or other incidental fee rates and/or changes.

Communication of fee information to students and
university constituents.

Requirements for fee revenue Reserves.

Authority for annual revenue budgets, expenditures and
year-end balances (retained earnings).

Authority for rate (cost) reviews.
Process Guidelines and Responsibilities
Establishing Designated Tuition and Mandatory Fee Rates:

Board of Regents approve tuition & mandatory fee
rates for two year periods.
 Spring following legislative year

Associate VP – Financial Affairs coordinates the T&F
Process in accordance with The UT System guidelines.

Tuition & Fee Committee & public hearings are
required.
Process Guidelines and Responsibilities
Establishing the Designated Tuition Rate
 Lowest amount possible to cover incremental
changes in mandatory & fixed costs


Conservative estimates of growth
Cap may be imposed by UT System
In FY09, our rate goes from $101/SCH to
$110/SCH (+8.9%)
Process Guidelines and Responsibilities
In FY09, Designated Tuition is the only new
discretionary source of income for UTSA
E&G budgets to fund:




$1.176M in required Financial Aid
$2M New Faculty Recruitments
$2.77M in Merit Salary increases
$0.290M for Bad Debt Allowance & Texas
Tomorrow
Other budget increments are reallocations of previously recovered revenue
(except for BoR approved mandatory fee increases.)
Establishing / Changing Fee Rates or
Justifications
Use Fee Request Form



Zero based budget approach
For existing fees, requires re-validation of the rate
charged to students based on budgeted semester
credit hour projections and expenditures.
 Allows for cost analysis of current situation
versus the requirements when the fee was
originally established.
Changes must be endorsed by VP/Provost and
vetted through fee committees/student
organizations as appropriate.
Establishing / Changing Fee Rates or
Justifications
Authority of the President

Upon prior review and approval of the Executive
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the President
can approve new or changes to:
 Laboratory or course fees
 College fees
 (other) Incidental fees
Can be done ‘off cycle’ if necessary for exceptional
circumstances.
Communication of Fee Rates and Changes





Committees
Banner Student Information System
Websites
Academic Publications / Information Bulletin
Other
Retained Earnings
Retained earnings (carryforward balances
and reserves) are appropriate for:




Working Capital – when expenditures precede
revenue
Current Operations – if projected expenses can not
be covered by projected income
Capital Replacement – offset economic effects of
depreciation
Planned Future Operations
Requirements are documented each year for the AVPFinancial Affairs to review and make recommendations.
Revenue Financial Assessment

Sr. Director of Budget – establishes revenue
targets based on CY revenue & projected
enrollment or other changes.
 Deviations are mutually agreed upon.

Expenditures monitored by fee administrators.
 In accordance with justification
 Stakeholder appropriateness test

Retained earnings exceeding 15% must be
approved by VPBA or designee.
Periodic Review of Approved Rates


AVP-Financial Affairs Authority
Focus – Cost Recovery of Expenditures
 Are students being appropriately charged?
 Are Reserves being expended for the intended
purpose?
 Is UTSA subsidizing costs and is the level of
subsidy appropriate?
Periodic Review of Approved Rates

Recommendation to UTSA Administration
about rate appropriateness.

Appropriateness of expenditures within the
approved justification remains the
responsibility of each VP and is not the focus
of this activity.
 Internal & External Auditors may examine that
aspect (as well as the rate appropriateness.)