LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Students could soon be paying more to attend a Nevada college.
The Board of Regents for the Nevada System of Higher Education is set to vote on a proposed fee increase.
Many students have been sharing their frustration about the potential change, including CSN student Sarah Serrano, who is also part of student government.
WATCH | She shared with Justin Hinton how a fee increase would affect her and her education:
“It's starting to feel like college is becoming priced out, out of reach for us,” she said.
The state legislature urged NSHE during the 2025-2027 biennium to seek additional sources of revenue to replace one-time funding and avoid major budget gaps.
“Within our state operating budgets, that revenue is student fees," CFO Chris Viton said during a December board meeting.
According to the presentation, the initial recommendation from the chancellor and institution presidents proposed a range of increases from 2-5% over the next few school years.
That’s after fees already recently went up about 5%.
Serrano says this new change is unaffordable.
“I may have to put this goal aside again, and as a nontraditional student who's going back to college after the military, a little older, it is such a beatdown,” she said.
It’s also not sitting well with many of the regents who voiced their frustration during that same December meeting.
“This is a tough pill to swallow, because we've already asked our students for something. Now, we've put ourselves in a situation where we're asking them for it again,” said District 6 Regent Heather Brown.
“This is not an emergency or an extreme circumstance,” said District 12 Regent Amy J. Carvalho.
Viton, however, sees it differently.
“For me, it is in line of an extreme circumstance. I think my concern with the level of budget reduction this would represent also suggests that it's extreme,” he said.
Whatever is decided ultimately comes down to the Board of Regents.
Serrano is hopeful the words of the students who spoke out against the potential fee increase are heard loud and clear.
“Maybe there are just other things they can do to ease into this rather than feeling like the pressure is all on the student to come up with the magical, economic solutions that just aren't there,” she said.
After the December meeting, several new options were included to close the budget gap that trustees will consider during a January 23 meeting.
One of the options includes keeping the proposed rate increase but delaying it until Fall 2027.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. at the system administration building on Maryland Parkway.
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