The Nevada Higher Education System’s top official says tuition increases as high as 12 percent are still the best way to cover an estimated $46.5 million annual shortfall and support more than 300 positions across the state’s public colleges and universities.

A report on the agenda for a Board of Regents meeting next Friday also proposed milder alternatives that regents could consider to cover the budget gap, which is primarily attributed to faculty pay raises.

One alternative would delay the new tuition increase until fall of 2027 to give students and families more time to plan for the increase and implement it over a two-year period instead of three.

Other options would reduce the cumulative tuition increases to 8 percent or 4 percent for four-year institutions and upper-division courses at community colleges numbered 300 or higher, and 6 percent or 3 percent for lower-division courses. 

These options could possibly require the elimination of between 102 and 206 positions, the report states.  

But the report’s recommendation of a cumulative 12 percent tuition increase over three years for students at four-year institutions or taking upper division courses, and 9 percent for lower-division courses at community colleges is still favored by system Chancellor Matt McNair and institution presidents. 

NSHE policy requires that 10 percent of tuition revenue for lower-division courses at community college be set aside for student financial assistance and 15 percent for four-year institutions and upper-division courses at community colleges. 

The report also provides the board with an option to dedicate all new revenue generated by the tuition increase to NSHE’s operating budget. This would allow the board to lower the recommended cumulative tuition increases to 10.2 percent for four-year institutions and upper-division courses and 8.1 percent for lower divisions and the alternative proposals. 

The report maintains that even if the recommended tuition increases are implemented, NSHE institutions will remain affordable compared with their peers in the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education regional interstate compact. 

According to an analysis by NSHE, its historical enrollment data from 2004 to 2025 doesn’t show a direct correlation between fee increases and enrollment collapse, and in some cases found enrollment gains after significant fee increases.

“Nonetheless, affordability compared to peers does not negate the reality of individual hardship that may result as cost of attendance rises,” the system’s proposal reads. “The Institutions recognize that even comparatively small increases can have meaningful impacts for some students and families.”

If the new tuition increases aren’t approved, the institutions say it could result in hiring freezes and reductions in staffing, course offerings, programs and student services such as advising, tutoring, counseling and financial aid. UNLV warns those reductions could mean that it could take longer for students to graduate.  

In a separate report outlining how each campus’ budget would be affected if an increase isn’t approved, UNR said it would be required to eliminate or consolidate at least seven academic departments and programs that approximately 600 undergraduate and graduate students are currently enrolled in. Many would be forced to change majors, delaying their graduation, or transfer to other institutions.