By Kyle Twardowski, Triton’s Call Staff

With the announcement of the sudden increase of tuition at the University of Guam, it’s not unordinary to question whether this is due to the budget appropriations for fiscal year 2016.  The answer is “no.”

            With Public Law 33-66 coming into effect on Sept. 5, 2015, the budget for the university is set just a little over $30.6 million for FY16.  This is an increase of about $900 thousand from the FY15 budget, which was $29.7 million.

“An increase in appropriations from last fiscal year surely is a good thing,” said Narissa Underwood, Ph.D, senator of the 33^rd Guam Legislature.

With this increase of the budget, most of the costs will still be used for operational expenses for the university to ensure that the campus runs efficiently and safely for students and administrative services.

“Funding for capital improvements are appropriated from the Guam Highway and the Territorial Educational Facilities Fund every fiscal year, which help with the renovations needed to ensure a safer campus for all the students,” Underwood said.

With the raise in tuition at the university, the UOG board and administration determines what is best needed.  However, the increase in appropriations for UOG’s budget is most likely due to the increase in services and programs offered to students at the university.

The budget increase for FY16 is a good sign for the university, but it does have to do with the general influxes of costs to run the campus.

“The extent to which students are affected by a budget increase/decrease is dependent upon the amount that the budget changes and the spending priorities developed and implemented by UOG,” Underwood said.