A proposal to lower by 2.6 percent the cost for out-of-state students to attend Connecticut universities has been rescinded. Instead, the Board of Regents’ Finance Committee next Thursday will vote on a proposal to raise tuition and fees for both out-of-state and in-state students by about 5 percent.

The proposal to decrease the price tag for out-of-state students was abandoned when committee members questioned whether the reduction would actually encourage greater enrollment from out-of-state students and whether it was worth the cost.

Students at Central Connecticut State University, unhappy that they may have to pay $835 more to attend class and live on campus next year, announced they plan to rally on campus against the increase on Monday at 2 p.m.

Included in the proposal for the committee to consider is a list of “risk factors” that still will face the 95,000-student college system next school year. Those risks include declining enrollments, mid-year funding cuts from the state, the inability to keep vacant positions open and retirement and health benefits costing more than expected.

For previous Mirror stories on tuition and other budget risks facing the state colleges, see here and here.

Jacqueline was CT Mirror’s Education and Housing Reporter, and an original member of the CT Mirror staff, joining shortly before our January 2010 launch. Her awards include the best-of-show Theodore A. Driscoll Investigative Award from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists in 2019 for reporting on inadequate inmate health care, first-place for investigative reporting from the New England Newspaper and Press Association in 2020 for reporting on housing segregation, and two first-place awards from the National Education Writers Association in 2012. She was selected for a prestigious, year-long Propublica Local Reporting Network grant in 2019, exploring a range of affordable and low-income housing issues. Before joining CT Mirror, Jacqueline was a reporter, online editor and website developer for The Washington Post Co.’s Maryland newspaper chains. Jacqueline received an undergraduate degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in public policy from Trinity College.

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