The Missouri State University Board of Governors is expected to vote tomorrow on a tuition bump for the 2015-16 academic year, moves that would boost the bottom line of the college.
With the increases, the school would add roughly $900,000 in additional annual revenue, said MSU Chief Financial Officer Stephen Foucart.
Undergraduate tuition for Missouri residents would increase $1 per credit hour to $205 a credit for the upcoming academic year. Full-time, out-of-state undergraduate and graduate students would pay $434 and $511 per credit hour, respectively. Full-time graduate residents would pay $255 per credit hour.
At the West Plains campus, basic fees would increase from $114 to $119 per credit hour for state residents and from $228 to $238 for out-of-state residents.
“Our tuition is below state and national averages; however our quality programs and outstanding faculty compares with any other public, master’s granting university,” MSU President Clif Smart said in a news release about the increases.
The Missouri Higher Education Student Funding Act sets tuition caps for colleges and universities. Caps cannot be increased beyond the Consumer Price Index for undergraduate resident students. The CPI for the 2016 fiscal year is set at 0.8 percent, which Foucart said translates to a maximum allowable increase of $53.92. He said the $1 increase to tuition for resident undergrads, based on a full 30-credit hour schedule per student for the academic year, plus an increase to student service fees of $11 per student per semester, would bring MSU close to maximizing the full amount of the allowable increase.
The board also is expected to approve an $11 per semester increase in student services fees, which would increase revenue for the school $375,000, Foucart said.
Parking feesParking permit fees, which have not increased since 2006, according to the release, would rise 20 percent for all passes, effective July 1. The move also requires approval of the board during its retreat tomorrow.
The vote would increase revenue from parking permits by roughly $286,000, Foucart said.
In a
blog post yesterday, Smart said plans are in place to increase parking at the school through construction of a new, 70-space lot north of Strong Hall.
He said “seldom-used” vehicles owned by the university would move to the Darr Agricultural Center, freeing up an additional 12 spaces in two lots.
A new parking permit will be available for an annual rate of $65 to students, faculty or staff that will enable them to park on certain perimeter lots, which Smart said, combined with use of the Bear Line shuttle services, “provides a low-cost option” for campus parking.
