Portland State lowers planned tuition hike

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – The Portland State University Board of Trustees’ finance committee has decided to lower its proposed tuition increase to 4.9% for next year.

That proposal goes before the full board for approval next week.

Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the PSU board voted last month to approve an up to 11% tuition increase, but its finance committee decided to change that after learning they could receive more funding from the state.

A new budget bill from the state’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission, HECC, allots more than $836 million for public universities. That’s about $100 million more for those schools than in Gov. Kate Brown’s original proposed budget.

State universities can raise tuition on their own if it’s an increase of 5% or less. Any tuition increase above 5% requires a review by HECC.