MTSU’s tuition and fees cost $5,328.50 per semester this year. This is an increase of 6.49% compared to last year, according to MTSU’s board of trustees’ website.
Tuition rose by an average of 3% in the last ten years, according to Drew Harpool, the interim vice president for Business and Finance. The increase over the last two years surpasses the previous eight years.
This year saw the highest tuition hike over the last decade, surpassing last year’s growth of 5.39%.
The board of trustees sets tuition rates after receiving feedback from MTSU president Sidney A. McPhee, said Jimmy Hart, senior director of MTSU’s media and relations team.
The university allocates tuition into a few major categories, Harpool said.
“The big ones that we look at are things like basic operational costs,” Harpool said. “Utilities are a great example. We anticipate any given year, especially in these last few years with inflation being what it is, that utilities may be going up between $500,000 and $750,000 a year.”
Tuition and state appropriations, or state money allocated to the school, are two sources of funding for MTSU’s budget.
“Our total budget is about $500 million, so an increase of $300,000 on the appropriations side makes it difficult sometimes,” Harpool said. “To put that into perspective, we put $520,000 into just new academic programs for students.”
The board of trustees’ announcement said it would increase undergraduate in-state tuition for those taking more than 12 credit hours. Tuition aids with scholarships, new academic programs, promotions, inflating costs of utilities, maintenance, technology and software agreements.
Based on comments students submitted after the board of trustees released the proposal, students are not pleased with the tuition increase, Harpool said.
“I genuinely believe that it was because the administration wanted to upgrade their buildings, but didn’t want to allocate funds from other departments, such as sports,” MTSU junior Kirsten McClure said. “So, they went straight to the source: the people who pay the tuition.”
Most funding for building projects and athletics comes from philanthropy, or loans paid back over time using student fees and direct appropriations, Harpool said.
“I think the tuition increase is absurd, and it has proven difficult when paying for my tuition,” MTSU freshman Daysia Westmoreland said. “I pay mostly out of pocket, aside from very little in scholarships. Even with three separate scholarships and the maximum amount of FAFSA [Free Application for Federal Student Aid], the cost is still too high without me taking out loans for the semester.”
Still, many others, like nontraditional student Megan Shaw, hope the tuition increase will benefit the university.
“I hope that if they’re raising tuition, it’s for a good cause, such as improving campus,” Shaw said. “I think that unless it’s to benefit the students, there is [no] reason to raise tuition.”
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