State regents approve tuition, fee increases

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- Students will be paying more this fall to attend public colleges and universities across the state.<br/><br/>State regents gave final approval Wednesday to increases averaging 9.2%

Thursday, July 1st 2004, 5:39 am

By: News On 6

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- Students will be paying more this fall to attend public colleges and universities across the state.

State regents gave final approval Wednesday to increases averaging 9.2% at state colleges and universities.

An analysis of the higher education budget shows nearly 75% of the new funding comes from tuition and fee increases.

Higher Education Chancellor Paul Risser says he's concerned about the lack of state-appropriated funds in the budget. In the past 16 years, state appropriations have dropped from providing three-quarters of the higher-education budget to providing only half.

Risser says a continued drop will result in larger class sizes and a lower quality of education.