Amid school-wide tuition hikes, one of the programs hit the hardest is the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) program in the UW School of Nursing (SON). In June, the SON told its students there would be a 48 percent increase in program fees for incoming students, raising quarterly tuition from $4,600 to $6,800 per quarter.

“It’s well above what I thought I was going to be paying,” said Adam Davis, a graduate student in the FNP program. “I’m hopeful that this isn’t going to stay the same because I think that they’re kind of putting the FNP program at a huge disadvantage in terms of the future when it comes to trying to get strong applicants to apply for the program.”

While the FNP program is self-sustaining — it pays for itself through student fees and receives no state funding — the SON, which the practitioner program is a part of, is facing 11-percent cuts.

According to the UW’s Web site, the three-year FNP program is a specialty within the Doctor of Nursing Practice program that aims to train students to diagnose and treat diseases and prescribe medication to patients of all ages.

Not all students in the program see the benefits of a career as a FNP as being undermined by the increase in program fees.

“As a nurse practitioner, I will be making a lot of money when I graduate,” said Emily Donaldson, a graduate student in the FNP program. “So I don’t actually have a fear of being able to repay my loans.”

One of the stipulations of the program increase is that the 48-percent increase only applies to incoming students. Continuing students already enrolled in the program will be paying $5,307, or 14 percent more in fees.

“The actual cost varies by type of student because we are committed to easing the transition for our continuing students,” said Marla Salmon, dean of the SON.

Need-based students, who are exempt from paying the “tuition” part of the program fees, are also receiving a break with their decreased costs now covering a larger range of credits.

“For the tuition-exempt students, the university has increased the number of credits it will now cover in summer and fall quarters — from six credits to 18 credits,” said Lia Unrau, director of communications for the SON. “This holds the fees the tuition-exempt students pay to just the program fees — about $402. Students will be responsible for any costs beyond 18 credits.”

The SON chose to raise tuition rather than cut programs or faculty and staff in an effort to have more time to continue to find ways to have all of the school’s various programs bring in more revenue.

“These decisions have been very difficult. We are deeply grateful to have been able to preserve faculty and staff employment and continue to offer our programs in the face of unprecedented cuts,” Salmon said. “Having our faculty, staff and programs continue this year allows us to prepare for the future in ways that would have not been possible had we not made the decisions we’ve made.”

Davis agrees the program has a lot to offer society, but feels the new program hikes will turn prospective students away.

“I think the program is something that could be very significant to the state of Washington,” Davis said. “I think the state and school would like to be as supportive as possible, but the curriculum is actually extremely expensive.”

Reach reporter Ivan Vukovic at news@dailyuw.com.