Thanks to an anticipated increase in state funding, Michigan State University students will see a smaller increase in tuition rates this year.
The average 2.8 percent tuition hike for in-state undergraduate students is the lowest since 2005.
Under the 2013-14 budget approved by the MSU Board of Trustees at its June 21 meeting, tuition for in-state, lower division students – freshmen and sophomores – will increase by 1.9 percent, while tuition for in-state, upper division students – juniors and seniors – will go up by 3.6 percent.
The state appropriations increase of 1.82 percent for MSU exceeded the projection of 0 percent made in June 2012 by the MSU board.
“This year’s appropriations were helpful and our own cost-savings efforts continue, but we still need to confront years of erosion of state support and rising costs beyond our control,” said MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. “We are resolved to protect and enhance the value of an MSU degree as well as our place among the world’s top 100 research universities – even in this more competitive global environment – while remaining among the most efficient of our peer universities.”
Also part of the 2013-14 MSU budget is a 4.5 percent increase in financial aid. Financial aid support continues to increase at a rate greater than resident undergraduate tuition and fees, amounting to a 59 percent increase over the last five years.
The recent economic downturn and declining state support forced MSU to make spending cuts of $110 million over the past three years, including $28 million in health-care coverage savings worked out with employee groups and $32 million in forgone wage increases.
Cost savings are used to bolster academic performance. MSU boasts 19 academic programs in the top 20 nationally, including top-ranked programs in nuclear physics, elementary and secondary education, and industrial/organizational psychology.
Under the new budget, resident lower division students will pay $8 more per credit hour, compared to last year. Resident upper division student will pay $16.50 more per credit hour.
Overall, resident, lower division students taking a full load of courses – 15 credit hours – would pay about $6,431.25 per semester. Resident upper division students would pay $7,145.50.
Tuition for nonresident undergraduate students will increase 3.6 percent. That would be an increase of $39.62 per credit hour. A student taking a full load of classes would pay $17,141.25 per semester.
Graduate students’ tuition will increase by 4 percent. In-state graduate students would see an increase of $24 per credit hour; nonresidents an increase of $47 per credit hour.
For more information, visit http://www.budget.msu.edu/.