Related articles:

UA tuition increase 9.8% Tuition at UA going up 9 percent, more for out-of-state students Plan: Univ. funds hinge on students State Board of Regents to consider tuition hike Thursday Regents reject student calls for tuition freeze Legislature must invest in higher education, too Card tactic boosts UA fee-freeze movement

Other articles by Eric Swedlund:

Pecan exec dies in plane crash Manager of Green Valley pecan farm killed in plane crash Police chief eyes new policy on entrant reports Desert yields body of smuggler Marijuana smuggler killed by bandits south of Tucson, authorities say Monsoon's not over yet, thunderstorm shows Mexican man is suspect in S. Side killing Man arrested in death of his girlfriend in OV Boy, 11, locked in 'reeking' room; 2 held Tucson boy, 11, locked in 'reeking' room, detectives say

Trades/Construction
PARKWAY CONSTRUCTION
SUPERINTENDENTS Driver/Transportation
DRIVERS Sales and Marketing
Town and Country Foods
Sales Manager Technical
Unitek USA
Satellite Installers General
Maintenance Technician Driver/Transportation
REPOSSESSION DRIVERS Construction
Green Valley Heating & Cooling
HVAC Service Tech

Citing the growing financial burden of college, dozens of Arizona university students asked the Board of Regents to freeze tuition rates for the coming year during a statewide hearing Thursday.

In a two-hour teleconference set aside for public comment, student after student at the three university main campuses and branch campus locations testified about tuition, and while a few supported university recommendations for increases, the vast majority stuck with a proposal from student leaders statewide to freeze tuition.

Many wearing blue T-shirts that read "Increase state investment in higher education NOT TUITION," the students in Tucson, Sierra Vista, Douglas, Tempe, Phoenix and Flagstaff mostly banded together in opposition to another hike after watching rates nearly double in the past six years.

Alyssa Baz, a Pima Community College transfer student in her first year studying architecture at the UA, said she could be one of the students squeezed out of school by a tuition increase.

"I'm worried that tuition raises will make education less accessible for students like me," said Baz, a 28-year-old mother of two. "I'm also worried about the decline of the middle class if higher education becomes less accessible."

The Board of Regents will set next year's tuition during its meeting next Thursday on the Arizona State University campus in Tempe.

UA President Robert Shelton is recommending a 9.3 percent tuition increase, along with a new $40 student-services fee that would raise total costs for resident undergraduates to $5,531 year. Shelton is also recommending the board increase out-of-state tuition 14.6 percent, to $18,408 a year.

Besides tuition, Shelton is recommending a series of special program fees, one of which would add journalism students to the short list of undergraduates charged extra for a particular degree. The $500 annual fee would apply only to upper-division students, similar to fees in business, engineering and architecture.

"Tuition at this university remains one of the better bargains in America," Shelton said. "We are one of America's top 15 public research universities, while simultaneously being accessible."

The student freeze proposal calls for the Legislature to fund what would be equal to a 5 percent across-the-board tuition increase. By taking their concerns directly to state lawmakers and showing what an increase would mean, students hope to avoid another increase.

"This is an opportunity for students to fight for themselves," said Tommy Bruce, UA student body president. "Students cannot stand for it anymore, and we are speaking up and we are speaking together."

Michael Slugocki, vice chairman of the Arizona Students' Association and a UA political science senior, said students are tired of the continuing annual tuition battle and want to be part of a solution that brings the best result for students, the universities and the state.

"We've literally talked with thousands of students who support our proposal. I'm here for the students who are unable to make it here tonight because they're working," he said. "It's time for students to have a chance to not have these crazy outrageous tuition increases every year."

Jacob Knutson, a public administration and policy graduate student, said he got his bachelor's degree from the UA on scholarship but was forced to start out part time for his master's. He works 30 hours a week substitute-teaching and delivering pizza and said though he's outgrown Ramen, eggs, potatoes, beans and rice make up most meals.

Describing how a number of friends have been forced to drop out of school because of financial constraints, Knutson said nobody in the state is well- served when capable people are working as cooks and waiters instead of doctors.

"Our progressive founders of the state of Arizona recognized the advantages of a well-educated work force, not only to the economy, but also to our democracy," he said. "Raising tuition is the wrong course of action."