Students in Ohio University’s class of 2021 could see an increase in the cost of their tuition.
OU officials are considering a 3.3 percent increase in tuition cost for the OHIO Guarantee for next year’s freshman class at January’s Board of Trustees meeting.
The cost could mean an in-state student would see about a $388 increase in tuition costs per year.
Chad Mitchell, OU’s chief of staff and special assistant to the vice president for Finance and Administration, said part of the reason for a need to increase tuition comes from a loss in state funding and a slowing of enrollment growth and endowment distributions.
Students not on the OHIO Guarantee could also see an increase in tuition if the state does not pass another tuition freeze in its budget. For the past two academic years, students without guaranteed tuition have not seen a rise in their tuition because of Gov. John Kasich’s budget.
The class of 2018 will be the last students at OU to not have guaranteed tuition. Because students under the guaranteed tuition plan have a flat-rate fee for four years, the classes of 2019 and 2020 will not see any increase in tuition.
“For (fiscal year 2018), we will be under a new Ohio biennial budget, so there’s uncertainty at the moment as to what that cap will be,” Mitchell said.
Layna Broomhall, a sophomore studying nursing, said the cost of tuition can add up over time.
“I think it’s high just because when my brother was here, it was like $2,000 less,” Broomhall said. “So I can see it increasing drastically. I don’t think it necessarily should be that high.”
Paige Huntsman, a sophomore studying nursing, said increasing tuition can play a part in how much debt students take on, though the proposed increase wasn't as much as she thought it would be.
“That’s not too bad,” Huntsman said, adding that she thought a possible increase in tuition would be higher.
Broomhall said regardless of the amount, any increase for incoming students could affect their debt.
“It’s just $400 right now, but with interest, it’s going to be a lot more,” she said.
The Board of Trustees has to approve all tuition increases before they are final.
The class of 2020 saw an increase of 1.7 percent to its tuition, or a $196 increase. Those students pay $11,744 in in-state tuition each year, with a four-year total of $46,976.
Tuition increased 5.1 percent for the class of 2019, which is under the guaranteed tuition model, according to a previous Post report.
Room costs could increase by 3.5 percent, and board costs could increase by 2 percent for the class of 2021. Officials do not project an increase in the out-of-state charge for students, unlike last year when cost increased 5.6 percent, or about $500.
Mitchell stressed that the proposal is preliminary, and the university will not know the cap from the state's final budget until late June or early July.
“We still have to plan, and we still have to build our budget for next year,” Mitchell said. “It’ll be sort of provisional as this goes forward and to our trustees.”
