KNOXVILLE (WATE) - A proposal for future full time University of Tennessee-Knoxville students to pay for an additional three hours each semester is moving forward.
The proposal, dubbed "Take 15, graduate in 4" would begin with the freshman class of 2013. Current students would not be affected by the change.
Students now pay by credit hour until they reach 12, which defines full time status.
Under the new plan, future students who take 12 or more credit hours would have to pay for 15.
After Chancellor Jimmy Cheek presented the proposal at the trustees finance and administration committee meeting on Wednesday afternoon, the members voted in favor of it.
Cheek says the new plan will encourage students to graduate in four years and reduce their debt. It would also allow the university to serve more students without increasing enrollment.
"At the most fundamental level it doesn't make sense. I shouldn't be paying for more than I'm actually getting," said recent UT graduate Sam Ellis.
He did make it in four years, but didn't need 15 hours each semester.
"I bulked up a little at the beginning, but I also came in with a few hours and I took summer classes," he said.
Many of the classmates he started with freshman year weren't ready to cross the stage with him, but he said it's not laziness.
"The trend I've seen more than anything else is indecisiveness, changing majors," he said.
Another obstacle to graduating on time is that some students can't get into the classes they need their senior year. Chancellor Cheek said part of the extra $1,400 a year per student under his plan would go to solve that problem.
"If they do intend on making more classes open so more students can graduate on time, I guess it would be worth the money," said UT student Rachael Burleson.
To help that first class of students who would pay more up front under the new policy, Cheek said he hopes their subsequent yearly tuition hikes can be held to three percent and not the 8 and 12 percent hikes seen in the past two years.
The board, which includes Gov. Bill Haslam, has to approve the measure at its full meeting on Thursday.
