Dorm rate hikes proposed for Nebraska students

LINCOLN (AP) — University of Nebraska students will pay more to live and eat on campus next school year if the Board of Regents approves a proposed increase Friday.

Students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln would pay about $400 more under the proposal, the Lincoln Journal Star reported.

The increase could add to another $600 in taxes if legislators were to approve Gov. Dave Heineman’s proposal to eliminate a sales tax exemption for college dorms as part of a state tax overhaul, Omaha Sen. Jeremy Nordquist said.

The regents also will consider rate hikes at three other NU campuses.

The rate increase and additional taxes would eclipse savings from a tuition freeze that Heineman has proposed.

“We acknowledge we need to do what we can to keep the cost of education as low as possible,” said Juan Franco, vice chancellor for student affairs at UNL. “We’re holding it down a little bit. Unfortunately, we do have increases in expenses.”

The 4.5 percent increase in room and board rates for UNL dorm residents would start in the coming fall semester. The proposal would increase rates again by no more than 4.5 percent for the 2014-15 school year.

UNL’s current rates vary from dorm to dorm. Currently, students in Abel-Sandoz and Harper-Schramm-Smith residence halls pay $9,122 per academic year to live on campus and eat at UNL cafeterias seven days a week.

University officials cited the rising costs of employee pay and benefits, utilities, raw food, materials, supplies and other expenses.

The increases also would help pay the debt for housing projects, including two suite-style residence halls under construction in Lincoln.

About a quarter of the UNL dorm residents won’t see an increase because of an incentive plan implemented a decade ago that freezes room and board rates for returning students.