Finance & Business Operations Committee to meet Feb. 5 to begin discussions of student fees for 2019-20 academic year

The Tennessee Board of Regents’ Committee on Finance and Business Operations will meet Tuesday, Feb. 5, to begin discussions of student fees at the state’s community colleges and colleges of applied technology for the 2019-20 academic year.

The committee will meet by telephone conference call at 9 a.m. CT Feb. 5 – the first of three meetings the committee has scheduled to discuss fees other than tuition. The other meetings are set for 1 p.m. Feb. 22 and 9 a.m. March 12.

The Feb. 5 meeting will be an overview of proposals for increases or other changes in various incidental and mandatory student fees, other than tuition, requested by the colleges. The committee will not vote to recommend approval of any fee changes at the Feb. 5 meeting.

Incidental fees are charges for specific classes, labs, licensure exams, materials and services to individual students and not billed to all students at a college. Mandatory fees – such as technology and student activity fees – are billed to all students enrolled at a college.

Discussions will continue at the Feb. 22 meeting, and the committee tentatively plans to finish its review and vote on its recommendations at the March 12 meeting. Whatever the committee recommends will go to the full Board of Regents for its consideration at its quarterly meeting March 21.

Tuition and mandatory fees for 2019-20 will be considered by the Board of Regents at its June 21 meeting. That action occurs after the Tennessee General Assembly has adopted the state budget, which includes the state portion of funding for public higher education. After the legislature approves the budget, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission sets a range of tuition rates that state colleges and universities must fall within.

The committee’s telephone conference meeting is open to the public. Anyone wishing to join the call as listeners should contact TBR Communications Director Rick Locker at 615-366-4417 or rick.locker@tbr.eduby 4 p.m. Feb. 4 for call-in information.