Dive Brief:

• According to preliminary estimates, tuition at Tennessee’s public universities could be hiked anywhere from 4.2% to 8.5%.
• The estimates were made during Thursday’s Tennessee Board of Regents finance committee meeting, which also saw discussion of hikes for the state's community colleges.
• The estimates are roughly double the anticipated tuition increases of 2% to 4% before a proposed $29.6 million increase in funding for higher education, recommended by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, was shot down by the state's legislature.

Dive Insight:

Tennessee officials stress that formal tuition proposals won’t be made before May 27. For community colleges, the estimated tuition hikes range from 2.6% to 10.6%. At the four-year level, the estimates range from a 4.2% increase at Tennessee State University to 8.5% for the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology. The University of Memphis is planning no tuition increase. Gov. Bill Haslam’s plan to offer free community college tuition to high school graduates starts in 2015, though it remains to be seen if these or future cuts could derail that effort.