Posted: July 20, 2005
Contact: Doug Anderson, doug.anderson@MinnState.edu, 651-201-1426
Students will pay an additional $126 to $355 a year in tuition and fees to attend Minnesota State Colleges and Universities this fall under a budget approved Wednesday by the Board of Trustees.
The increases bring the average tuition and fees to $5,252 for a full-time state university student and $4,021 for a full-time two-year college student. Overall, tuition and fees for the system's 32 colleges and universities will rise an average of 5.8 percent. Under the package approved by the board, tuition increases at all the colleges and universities will not exceed 7 percent.
"This is a smaller increase than we originally expected. Trustees are concerned that growing student debt burdens from the last four years of double-digit tuition increases make it difficult for students to earn their degrees in a timely manner," said Board Chair Robert Hoffman.
A recent Minnesota State Colleges and Universities survey shows significant numbers of students dropping classes or stopping out all together because they have incurred so much educational debt.
Chancellor James H. McCormick said, "Even with the modest increases, the state colleges and universities still provide more choices and better value than any other system of higher learning in the state.
"And, the quality of our programs was the most frequently cited reason that students gave for choosing our institutions in a recent survey," he said. Each of the 32 state colleges and universities proposes its own tuition and fees for approval by the Board of Trustees.
Note: A list of annual tuition and fees for 2005-2006 is attached.
