Metro State Students React To Tuition Increase

DENVER (CBS4)- Trustees at Metro State in Denver approved a nearly 23 percent increase on Wednesday for the next school year. That means an extra $351 per semester for undergraduate students taking 15 credit hours.

The school blames reductions in state funding and higher student enrollment for tuition increases.

"An extra $700 is a lot of money to us," said Metro State student Ron Hilton.

Metro State has Colorado's largest undergraduate enrollment. It's also the lowest-funded four-year institution. The Board of Trustees approved the tuition increase to combat more that $7 million in state funding cuts.

With the increase, students will pay about $700 more per year.

"We don't come from privileged backgrounds. We are really scrappy students who work really hard and we pay out of pocket. So, I know this is going to impact students," said Student Trustee Kat Cammack.

Cammack said the increase allows Metro State to keep its faculty and quality of education. She said the cuts were inevitable.

"For years, metro has found ways to pull rabbits out of their hat," said Cammack. "With the budget the way it is and the way the state allocation came down, we're running out of rabbits."

Student President Jesse Altum worries students will jump ship to community colleges or leave school all together. He's hoping state lawmakers will come to the rescue.

"This is the potential for the future of Colorado. You can give all the funding you want to CU and CSU, but we're the ones helping a majority of the students. We have 25,000 students on campus," said Altum.