UWI hikes fees

(Trinidad Express) THE University of the West Indies today issued a statement advising on a tuition fee increase. (Dollar figures are in T&T currency)
The following is the full statement.
The University Council of The University of the West Indies (The UWI) approved a small percentage increase in tuition fees for its Mona and Open campuses for the upcoming 2014 -15 academic year. At The UWI Council’s Annual Business Meeting, chaired by Chancellor Sir George Alleyne in Nassau, Bahamas in April, members considered and approved the recommended fees, which had been endorsed by the Sub-Committee on Tuition Fees. The University Council of The UWI is the supreme governing body of the regional institution. In the approved structure, students attending the Mona Campus will see tuition fees for the combined Faculties and Advanced Nursing increased by 3.07 percent; fees for the Faculty of Medical Sciences to be increased by 2.92 percent and for the Faculty of Law by 2.58 percent. The inflation rate for the preceding 12 month period was 9.7 percent, but it was projected that the campus would recover the mandated 20 percent of economic costs with that level of increase. There will also be a slight increase at the University’s Open Campus where tuition fees are charged on a per course basis. Fees for the undergraduate and pre-University programmes will go from US$300 per 3-credit course and US$550 per 3-credit course for Specially Admitted and Graduate Programmes to US$360 and US$660 respectively. Tuition fees at the St Augustine Campus will remain at current levels (i.e. what obtained in academic year 2013/2014) where the economic cost recovery ratio would be 18.20 percent while inflation was projected at 4.4 percent. Similarly, there will be no change in tuition fees at the University’s Cave Hill Campus. However, recovery of economic costs was projected to be 20 percent with the Barbados inflation rate projected at 1.8 percent. Fees are paid in the local currency of the site of registration or in US dollars and as such the base currency for the calculation of fees for regional programmes is demonstrated in US$. Exchange rates to be used for the 2014/2015 academic year will be confirmed at a later date.