KU tuition proposal balances affordability, quality
LAWRENCE ― Tuition at the University of Kansas would increase 4 percent over last year for all students on the standard tuition rate under the university’s 2016-17 tuition proposal presented to the Kansas Board of Regents today.
For first-time freshmen opting into the university’s four-year tuition compact, which guarantees students a fixed tuition rate for four years, that rate would be 5 percent higher than last year’s. At KU Medical Center, all students, including medical students, would see tuition rise by 5 percent. Overall, approximately half of returning KU undergraduates would see no tuition increase under the proposal.
“When we set tuition, we are trying to balance affordability and quality,” said Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little. “We want KU to remain affordable and accessible while also ensuring we have the resources to provide students the education and experiences they expect from a flagship research university. I believe we continue to successfully balance these goals based on the fact that we’ve now had four straight years of freshman class growth and continue to have the highest enrollment of any Regents institution.”
The Board of Regents is expected to vote on state universities' tuition proposals next month. Details on the KU proposal, as well as those of other Regents universities, will be available at kansasregents.org.
On the Lawrence campus, funds raised by the tuition proposal would address key priorities such as retaining top faculty and staff. At KU Medical Center, revenue from the tuition increase would address crucial infrastructure improvements to the center’s police digital radio system, information technology hardware and software, as well as improvements to the medical center’s police dispatch center.
Proposals at both campuses were developed with direct student involvement, with students serving on the Tuition Advisory Committees that proposed the rates.
Out of the 34 public universities in the Association of American Universities, KU’s tuition and fees currently rank 13th lowest. KU’s tuition is also very much in line with other state universities in the region, including Colorado, Texas, Missouri and Texas Tech.
Overall state funding for KU remains below pre-recession levels in both actual and inflation-adjusted dollars. In recent years, state funding has fallen to about 20 percent of KU’s total revenue. On March 1, Gov. Sam Brownback announced a 3 percent cut to Board of Regents universities for the current fiscal year, which amounted to a $7.18 million cut for KU.