By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Arizona Capitol Time
The state’s top prosecutor is charging that the Board of Regents is violating a constitutional requirement that tuition for Arizona residents be “as nearly free as possible.”
In a 20-page complaint filed today in Maricopa County Superior Court, Attorney General Mark Brnovich said he is not asking a judge to determine exactly what the tuition should be. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled a decade ago that’s not within their power to set.
But Brnovich contends that the board is acting illegally by basing the tuition not on what it actually costs to educate students but instead on other improper factors, ranging from what other state universities charge to the availability of financial aid. He said the board is “essentially concluding that if students can borrow enough money, ABOR is cleared to charge it.”
