Office of University Communications 

Fee increase keeps university costs below national average

SPRINGFIELD — The Missouri State University Board of Governors today (March 14) approved an increase in its basic fees (tuition) from $179 to $186 per credit hour for its undergraduate resident students, an amount consistent with the inflation rate.

“Missouri State University has made a commitment to providing a high-quality college education at an affordable price,” said Missouri State President Michael T. Nietzel. “Despite national increases in costs for higher education, we’ve managed to hold our increases below the rate of inflation for the second year. This increase keeps Missouri State near the middle in cost for Missouri public colleges and universities.”

Out-of-state undergraduate fees will increase from $349 to $362 per credit hour. Basic fees for graduate students will increase from $206 to $214 per credit hour for resident students and from $402 to $418 for non-resident students. The increase is expected to keep Missouri State’s tuition and fees in the bottom third of Missouri public, four-year universities and under the national average for public, four-year institutions.

For the second year, basic fees for the West Plains Campus will remain the same at $102 per credit hour for Missouri residents and $204 for non-Missouri residents. The 2008-2009 tuition for Greenwood Laboratory School will increase by 3.9 percent from $4,202 to $4,366.

The Board also voted to increase room and board costs by 4.4 to 5.1 percent, depending on the type of residence.

Another university initiative that will continue to help control tuition cost is CAP-IT – the Choice And Predictability in Tuition plan – which was introduced in Fall 2006. For the current year, students may choose a standard tuition plan where students are assessed tuition and required fees at rates in effect for the current year, or students may choose CAP-IT’s tuition prepayment plan, which allows students to make a lump-sum prepayment that will cover basic fees for all courses they take during the period of the plan (excluding summers), regardless of changes in the standard tuition rates or the number of credit hours taken. More information is available online at www.missouristate.edu/capit.

The Student Government Association (SGA) passed a resolution supporting the recommended tuition and fee increases.

“We recognize the reality of having to increase fees,” said SGA President Orlando Hodges. “And we appreciate that the administration has historically worked to keep fee increases as low as possible.”

More information about Missouri State University is available online at www.missouristate.edu.