Tuition rates to rise in 2013-15

Tuition and fee rate increases for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years have been approved by the IU Board of Trustees after a public forum held at IUPUI yesterday.

IU President Michael McRobbie said a key question facing IU has been, and will continue to be, “how do we balance the financial needs of students and their families against the need to maintain the affordability and accessibility that is expected of a leading public institution such as IU.”

Resident tuition and fee rates will increase by 1.75 percent for residents and 2.75 percent for non-residents each of the next two years at IU Bloomington and IUPUI.
Though the increases for resident undergraduate students are below the non-binding target of two percent recently recommended by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and the lowest at the university since the late 1970s, they are still increases.

“As we developed our budget for the coming biennium, we considered every option that would allow us to recommend to our trustees the lowest possible tuition increase over the next two years to ensure the continuing affordability of an IU education,” McRobbie said.

McRobbie continued, saying “we believe this modest increase — when coupled with the increase in funding from the state, for which we are extremely grateful, and the generosity of our donors — will allow us to meet our goals of affordability, while continuing to provide world-class educational opportunities for our students.”

McRobbie also mentioned the Finish in Four On-Time Completion Award, which will cover all increases in tuition and fees during students junior and senior years if they graduate in four years. Students will not have to pay more than they paid during the 2012-2013 academic year, provided they achieve junior status (60 hours after two years) or senior status (90 hours after three years) by Fall 2013 and stay on track to graduate in time.

Tuition and fees for resident students at IU Bloomington will increase from $10,033 in 2012-2013 to $10,209 in 2013-2014, according to a press release. Resident tuition and fees will increase from $8,605 to $8,756 at IUPUI.

Resident graduate students will see a tuition increase from zero to three percent over the next two years and non-resident graduate students will see an increase from zero to six percent.

Another cost discussed during the public forum was rising health costs. An estimated guess put the costs around $15.2 million, which was a low estimate. Health costs are likely to be much higher.