The University of Wyoming Board of Trustees on Friday voted to increase tuition by $5 per credit hour for resident undergraduate students and proportional increases for nonresident undergraduates and all graduate students. It marks the first resident undergraduate tuition increase since the 2006-2007 academic year.
The increases would be for the 2010-11 (FY11) and 2011-12 (FY12) academic years. However, federal stimulus funds provided to UW through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be used to defray the cost of the tuition increase in FY11, so no students will pay a higher tuition rate until FY12.
"Even with these increases, UW tuition levels will continue to be among the lowest of public land-grant universities," UW President Tom Buchanan says.
Resident undergraduates now pay $94 per credit hour. That will increase to $99 in FY11 and $104 in FY12. Nonresident undergraduate tuition will increase from $358 per credit hour this year to $376 in FY11 and $394 in FY12.
Resident graduate students now pay $183 per credit hour. That will increase to $192 in FY11 and $201 in FY12. Cost per credit hour for nonresident graduate students will jump from $523 this academic year to $549 in FY11 and $575 in FY12.
Buchanan says the money raised by the increases will offset funding that was lost when budgets were cut this year. UW gave up funding for library collections that would allow it to apply for membership in the Greater Western Library Alliance, as well as funding gains for instructional excellence - resources and tools that students need for an optimal educational experience.
All revenue raised by the tuition increase will be applied equally only to library collections and excellence in education funds. UW estimates the revenue generated will provide $925,000 in FY11 and $1.85 million in FY12 for both the libraries and the excellence in education fund.
In past years, trustees had approved tuition annually, but Buchanan says given the economic uncertainty and changing fiscal environment in the state of Wyoming, establishing a tuition policy that mirrors the state's two-year budget cycle is preferable. State revenue projections for the coming biennium are much lower than those for the current biennium, but the outlook in later budget cycles is positive. While UW will use a four-year cycle in planning for tuition increases, the trustees established tuition for only the next two years.
Buchanan says he will evaluate UW's progress toward its goals before the Wyoming State Legislature's budget session in 2012 to ensure the university's tuition policy continues to be sound and the university is continuing to meet its budget objectives. At that time, he adds, the university can determine what tuition policy should be in place for 2013 and 2014.