The three public universities in Arizona — Arizona State University, University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University — are demanding tuition increases. They are proposing increases of 2% to 5.6%. A committee of the Board of Regents will vote on the hikes on April 7.
The universities cite inflation as the reason for the increase, with NAU President José Luis Cruz Rivera asserting the increase “accounts for less than half of current inflationary costs.”
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Stung by the results of the recent Tennessee Star Poll showing 84 percent of likely Republican primary voters oppose providing in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students, State Senator Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga), sponsor of two bills that would accomplish precisely that objective, complained on Monday that the poll asked about illegal immigrants rather than “children of undocumented immigrants who are brought to this country when they are very young.” “The question was worded in such a way to get the result they wanted,” Gardenhire complained to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The Tennessee Star Poll question asked likely Republican voters the following: “In 2018, the Tennessee General Assembly is expected to reconsider a bill to provide in-state college tuition to illegal immigrant students. Do you support or oppose providing in-state college tuition to illegal immigrant students?” 84 percent of Tennessee likely Republican primary voters disapproved of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. A resounding 68.9 percent strongly disapproved, the poll results showed: 68.9% Strongly Disapproved 15.5% Somewhat Disapproved 5.9% Somewhat Approved 5.2% Strongly Approved 4.5% Not Sure/don’t know “Gardenhire said that’s misleading,” the Times Free Press reported: He said “we’re not giving them anything” because the students live in Tennessee and would pay the…
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The Tennessee Star Poll released earlier this week revealed some important information about the current attitudes of likely Republican primary voters in Tennessee. Among the key results: 86 percent of likely Republican primary voters in Tennessee approve of President Trump’s job performance. No gubernatorial candidate has more than 10 percent support and the race is wide open. Senator Bob Corker’s re-election bid is in trouble. Rep. Marsha Blackburn is statistically tied in a one-on-one matchup with Senator Corker in a potential 2018 Republican U.S. Senate primary. Opposition to in-state tuition for illegal aliens is close to unanimous: 84 percent to 11 percent. A Republican gubernatorial candidate who promises to repeal the gas tax increase is more likely to receive the support of 48 percent of likely Republican primary voters and less likely to receive the support of 29 percent of likely Republican primary voters. 57 percent of likely Republican primary voters support constitutional carry. The Tennessee Star Poll will be conducted periodically between now and the August 2018 Republican primary to provide current insights into voter opinion among Tennessee’s likely Republican primary voters. The next poll is scheduled to be conducted and released in September of this year. The June 2017…
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A Tennessee bill that would have offered in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants died in a House committee Tuesday morning, effectively ending its path forward this legislative session. The Education Administration and Planning Committee shot down the bill in a close and emotional 6-7 vote. The bill was sponsored in the House by Rep. Mark White (R-Memphis) and has been sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga). Both are Republicans. “I cannot pass the burden onto the taxpayers of Tennessee,” said Rep. Dawn White (R-Murfreesboro) during a discussion before the vote. She said Tennessee would become a magnet for illegal immigrant families who would want their children to be able to take advantage of in-state tuition. The influx would create a need for more schools at the K-12 level and raise property taxes at time when some schools already have a number of portable classrooms, she said. Similar legislation passed in the Senate in 2015 but failed by just one vote in the House. Rep. Mark White, the House bill sponsor, was overcome with emotion Tuesday and seemed near tears as he asked for support for the bill. He said young people brought to the U.S. through no…
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State Senator Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) had a live on-air melt down Friday during a radio interview on WWTN 99.7 FM when Nashville’s Morning News host Ralph Bristol questioned him about the fairness of granting illegal immigrant students in-state tuition. Gardenhire is the sponsor of SB 1014/HB863 in the Senate. Rep. Mark White (R-Chattanooga) is the sponsor in the House. The bill “exempts undocumented students from paying out-of-state tuition at a state institution of higher education, at the discretion of the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR), the state university governing boards, or the University of Tennessee (UT) board of trustees,” according to the bill summary in the Fiscal Note prepared by the Tennessee General Assembly Fiscal Review Committee: Such individuals shall meet certain requirements to receive in-state tuition, including but not limited to, attending a school in this state for the two years immediately prior to graduation from high school; graduating from a Tennessee high school or obtaining a GED or HiSET credential awarded by a state-approved institution or organization, or completing high school in a Tennessee home school program; and is registered as an entering student or is enrolled at a state institution of higher education. The bill passed the…
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