This week the University of Massachusetts, Amherst joined a list of colleges announcing they would … [+]
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This is the time of year when many colleges and universities announce their tuition and fee rates for the next academic year. And this year, a growing number of universities have indicated their intent to hold the line and not hike tuition, at least for their in-state undergraduate students.
The tuition freezes are an acknowledgement of the continuing financial hardships faced by many students and their families due to the coronavirus pandemic. But they also are intended to help woo students who, in the next several weeks, will be finalizing their decisions about where to attend college for the upcoming school year. A tuition freeze may give a college the competitive advantage it needs to enroll more students.
Universities may also be more willing to propose flat tuition because of the three tranches of federal, Covid-19 stimulus funding they’ve received, in addition to the fact that in many states the revenue available for institutional funding is shaping up better than was anticipated just a few months ago.
On April 13, the Georgia Board of Regents voted to freeze tuition and fees at their current levels for the University of System of Georgia’s (USG) 26 public colleges and universities for the upcoming school year. This is the second year in a row, and the fourth time in six years, that the Board has voted to not increase tuition for students across the University System.
“USG over the past several years has remained committed to making public higher education as affordable as possible for students and their families, while maintaining results that rank our campuses among some of the best in the nation,” USG Chancellor Steve Wrigley said in a statement about the Board’s decision. “We are grateful for the support of the Board and state leaders toward this priority, and recognize students’ hard work especially over the past year to maintain success toward graduating and entering Georgia’s workforce with college degrees.”
In December, 2020, Purdue University announced its would keep tuition frozen — at 2012-13 levels — through at least 2022-23, which, if accomplished, would make a record, ten consecutive years of no tuition increases at the institution.
Back in January, California State University announced it would not increase 2021-22 tuition for the system’s 485,000-plus students. “I want to make sure all of our students hear that, and that all of our students who are thinking about coming to the CSU hear that: No increase in tuition for 2021-2022,” the Los Angeles Times reported Chancellor Joseph I. Castro saying at a meeting of the CSU’s Board of Trustees.
Arizona State University Michael Crow wrote on March 26, that he would recommend no tuition increase for next year. “Recognizing the significant financial impact the pandemic has had on many individuals, including ASU students and their families, I am proposing no tuition increase for any current or incoming ASU student for the 2021-2022 academic year. This will be the second year in a row campus immersion students have seen no tuition increase.”
While ASU’s tuition will remain flat, a limited set of program fee adjustments will be made, primarily for new students entering some graduate programs. Both of Arizona’s other two public universities – Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona – are also proposing no tuition increase for resident undergraduate students, marking the second year in a row of flat undergraduate tuition for both schools.
On Tuesday, the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors approved an administration proposal to hold base undergraduate tuition at its current rate for the 2021-22 academic year. However, there will be tuition increases for graduate and professional programs at Virginia as well as some increases in course fees and other charges for specific services.
In-state tuition across the University of North Carolina (UNC) System will remain flat for the fifth straight year. Although other student fees will increase 2.2%, Randy Ramsey, chair of the UNC Board of Governors, said that the System remained committed to maintaining affordability. “Our System-wide tuition freeze reinforces the board’s commitment to keep college costs low,” Ramsey said.
On April 14, the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees voted to freeze tuition for all in-state undergraduate and graduate students at its Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell campuses for the 2021-22 academic year. This marks the second consecutive year of tuition and mandatory fee freezes for in-state undergraduate and graduate students. The Boston, Dartmouth, and Lowell campuses also froze out-of-state student tuition.
“We recognize the very real challenges that our students and their families continue to face due to the pandemic and we are committed to doing everything within our control to lessen the burden while also preserving the quality of a UMass education,” said UMass President Marty Meehan. “That is also why we have prioritized setting our tuition rates earlier this year, so that we can provide some predictability to our students and families during an otherwise unpredictable year.”
Also on Wednesday, the Idaho State Board of Education directed the presidents of the University of Idaho, Idaho State University, Boise State University and Lewis-Clark State College to freeze tuition for in-state, undergraduate students for the second year in a row even though the Idaho legislature has not yet passed next year’s budget for the state institutions.
Other institutions recently proposing or approving tuition freezes include Radford University, the University System of New Hampshire, and the University of Akron, which is also planning to lower its on-campus housing costs for students next year. The University of Illinois will not increase its tuition, although student fees and housing fees will see a hike.
Dozens of community colleges, including those in Alabama, Missouri and Connecticut, have recently established tuition freezes for the upcoming year, a particularly important step because of the higher percentage of low- and middle-income students served by these schools.
Some private universities have also made the decision to not increase undergraduate tuition. Marquette University was among the first, announcing its no-increase decision last fall. Texas Christian University, American University and Butler University have followed suit.
But tuition largesse has its limits. While several Ivy League institutions have touted that their tuition increases for next year will be relatively small, tuition freezes do not appear to be on the table at these elite schools. The increases announced so far at the Ivies range from 2% at Dartmouth, to 2.8% at the University of Pennsylvania and Brown University, 2.9% at Cornell and 3.8% at Yale. Each of these institutions has pledged to increase its financial aid to help cushion the impact of the increases.
