UW Trustees Approve Tuition Changes

Tuition for most University of Wyoming students will increase by 4 percent in the 2019-20 academic year, with the exception of online graduate programs for nonresidents and two other specific online programs.

Following a multiyear tuition policy adopted in 2014, the UW Board of Trustees voted today (Thursday) in favor of the increase. Revenues will be used to fund services dedicated to student success, including recruitment and retention of high-quality faculty and staff -- and a sharpened focus on four-year graduation and job placement after graduation.

The university has moved up the setting of tuition rates to be more transparent with prospective and current students and their families. Even with the 4 percent increase, UW’s tuition and fees for Wyoming resident undergraduates will remain the lowest among the nation’s doctoral degree-granting institutions, and nonresident tuition and fees are still among the lowest in the country.

The trustees’ action will increase tuition for Wyoming resident undergraduates from $134 to $139 per credit hour, while nonresident undergraduate tuition will go from $537 to $558 per credit hour. Most other graduate programs also will see a 4 percent increase.

A significant exception is nonresident tuition for online graduate programs, which will see a 45 percent reduction -- from $780 to $432 per credit hour. UW’s current rate for nonresidents in online graduate programs is the highest among its peers when fees are included, and it has resulted in a 40 percent decline in enrollment by these students since fall 2013. The tuition cut starting in the 2019-20 academic year will put UW more in line with its peers and make UW more competitive in the market for nonresident students in online graduate programs.

The board also voted to establish a tuition rate for the online Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program that is more in alignment with the rates charged by peer institutions. The reduction from $537 to $350 per credit hour is expected to halt a decline in the program’s enrollment in recent years.

Finally, the trustees approved a 5 percent increase in tuition for UW’s online resident, nonresident and executive Master of Business Administration Program. Supported by the College of Business, this increase will align UW with the market for professional business administration degree programs.

The tuition rates noted above do not include the university’s mandatory student fees. At the graduate level, students in pharmacy, law, the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program, the Master of Speech-Language Pathology Program and the MBA Program pay differential tuition levels.