Daniella Tebib
News Editor
dtebib@murraystate.edu
The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education approved tuition and fee increases on April 26 for Murray State students.
Shawn Touney, director of communication, said undergraduate students will see a 1 percent increase in tuition go into effect fall 2019. This will add $42 per semester for resident students and $126 for non-resident students. However, tuition for graduate students will not be affected by this decision.
Touney also said the CPE approved an asset preservation fee rate at $7 per credit hour to go toward building upkeep and deferred maintenance. However, this fee will be capped at 12 credit hours per semester and excludes online courses as well as Racer Academy dual credit courses.
In addition to tuition increases, the Board of Regents have also discussed condensing regional tuition rates into one.
“The University is currently reviewing tuition and fees in order to determine a potentially simpler model for Murray State, effective for fall 2020,” Touney said. “One of the primary benefits through a simpler model would be an easier concept to market and communicate to prospective students.”
Jackie Dudley, vice president of finance and administrative services, said the University currently has rates for Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Arkansas, Alabama and Tennessee at the board meeting on April 5.
“We are trying to consolidate those into a resident rate and then another rate for non-residents,” Dudley said. “The idea is to have a single non-resident rate or at least a discount rate that is common amongst all non-residents.”
Dudley also said this could enhance recruiting, enrollment, retention and eliminate multiple undergraduate regional net tuition amounts.
President Bob Jackson said by condensing the regional tuition rate into one, it will provide more clarification and transparency.
“Our goal is to redo all the regional rates to simplify the process greatly, and have one regional rate,” Jackson said. “We’re trying to simplify the process because every state is different. It’s confusing to students and parents, so we’re trying to make it a more transparent and open process.”
Jackson said the University is working to find one rate for regional tuition somewhere in between the highest and lowest rates.
“Some states [tuition rates] will actually go down, the new regional rate won’t be an average,” Jackson said. “Currently, Illinois is the highest and Tennessee is the lowest, so it’ll be somewhere in the middle from that standpoint. There won’t be any great increases and some states will actually see a decrease.”
After the University comes to a consensus on one regional tuition rate, it will be presented to the board for approval. If approved, the rate will go into effect fall 2020, but will not impact current regional students’ tuition.