Tuition increases discussed

CARSON CITY " Tuition might go up next year at Nevada's state universities, under a proposal being discussed by higher education leaders and Gov. Jim Gibbons in efforts to deal with looming budget shortfalls.

Chancellor Jim Rogers says other options include seeking additional funding for community colleges from local governments, selling off the state's education-earmarked tobacco settlement for a lump sum and eliminating some tax breaks for large companies.

Rogers and Michael Wixom, chairman of the university system Board of Regents, floated the ideas Monday in a meeting with Gibbons. Rogers, who has publicly feuded over budget cuts the governor has imposed, called the 45-minute meeting "very productive."

Tuition increases, Wixom said, "are not something that can solve the entire problem" and would have to get student support. The issue has come up repeatedly because the University of Nevada system is among the cheapest to attend in the entire West.