Amid flat state funding, MSU increases tuition by 5%

Tuition for most undergraduate students at Missouri State University will be $317 per credit hour for the 2026-27 year, an increase of $15.

The 5% increase was approved April 15 by the MSU Board of Governors.

The Springfield-based campus is facing flat funding from the state going into a new fiscal year while expenses, including required contributions to the retirement system, are going up.

Matt Morris, vice president for administration and finance, said the tuition increase is higher than the inflation level but comparable to other public four-year colleges in Missouri.

“Other institutions are having similar conversations with their boards, and they’re in different phases of this,” Morris said. “Some have already gained approval for their tuition increases. Some are yet to occur in May.”

Morris said preliminary reports show the tuition increases will be between 3%-10%

A significant portion of undergraduate students at MSU hail from Missouri. Those who are not residents of the Show-Me State will pay $678 a credit hour, an increase of $32.

A year ago, the MSU board increased tuition by 4%, which translated to $12 for in-state undergraduate students and $15 for those from outside Missouri.

“With the headwinds we’re facing with appropriations, it just makes sense that we would have to do something higher than inflation,” said board vice chair Travis Freeman, a certified financial planner in St. Louis.

The average cost for an in-state undergraduate student to attend MSU will go from $10,732 a year to $11,340.

Tuition for graduate students will also go up to $414 a credit hour, an increase of $20, for in-state students and $825 a credit hour, up $39, for enrollees from outside Missouri.

Nearly 60% of the annual operating budget at MSU typically comes from tuition and fees.

The Student Service Fee was restructured slightly to be $70 per credit hour up to 9 credit hours and a flat rate of $630 for nine or more credit hours. Currently, the fee is $836 per semester for students enrolled in seven or more credit hours.

MSU will also charge a flat fee of $200 for athletics and $85 for technology each semester.

“The adjustment is due to how we’re assessing the fee, not changes,” he said.

MSU will start charging a $40 application fee for prospective undergraduate students. The application fee for international undergraduate student applicants, which had been $40, will go up by $10.

Dawn Medley, vice president for enrollment management, said the application fee was dropped during the pandemic.

She said reinstating the fee will likely reduce the volume of fraudulent applications that are submitted annually.

“We have many ways that students can have that fee waived. Anybody who has high financial need, who qualifies for free or reduced lunch, they can easily receive that fee waiver,” Medley said.

The university is dropping the $150 enrollment deposit but will charge a $225 fee for a student and up to two family members to attend Student Orientation, Advisement and Registration, or SOAR.

The refund rules have changed. The university will offer a 100% refund when a semester-length course is dropped in the first 10 days and a 50% refund for dropping days 11-20, but no refunds will be provided after the 20th day.

Currently, the university also offers deadlines for students to get a refund of 25% or 75%, but those options will go away.

MSU program fees vary and cover additional costs related to faculty, equipment, facilities, clinical instruction and supervision for selected programs.

The cost for high school students enrolled in dual credit courses at MSU will remain flat at $75 per credit hour.

Students living on campus are expected to see a slight increase in room and board, which is not to exceed 2.7% this year.

MSU will charge slightly more for infants, toddlers and preschool students who are part of the child development center.

Greenwood Laboratory School will start charging a $300 enrollment fee for new students this year. Tuition for K-8 will be $7,600, an increase of $300. High school tuition will be $8,250, an increase of $325.