/ Modified apr 9, 2020 3:58 p.m.

Possible enrollment declines due to coronavirus could mean trouble for UA bottom line

Out-of-state and international students account for a large portion of the university's tuition revenue.

UAz Campus The University of Arizona campus.
AZPM

The COVID-19 pandemic could mean changes in student enrollment at the University of Arizona, which affects the school’s bottom line.

Forty percent of University of Arizona students come from out of state, and within that group, 15% are international students. Those students pay more for tuition each semester than in-state students.

“Our net tuition revenue is derived greatly from out-of-state and international students so we’re going to have significant shortfalls in the projections of what we are going to have from tuition revenue,” UA President Robert Robbins explained on a town hall phone conference Thursday night.

Part of the concern is nobody knows when travel restrictions will be lifted. Robbins also said it is possible out of state students and their families will not want to return to Arizona for the fall semester.

The university has moved all classes online for this semester and the first semester of the summer.

University officials said they will determine whether or not there will be in-person classes in the fall no later than June.

International students also face the added hurdle of student visas, which may not be processed quickly enough due to reduced staffing and closures of embassies.

By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona