Regents approve tuition and fee increases for KU, K-State and other Kansas schools
The Kansas Board of Regents on Thursday approved 3.6 percent increases in tuition and campus fees for the six universities it governs.
Total increases range from $72 per semester for a full-time undergraduate resident student at Fort Hays State University to $188 per semester at the University of Kansas.
The new rates are effective for the fall semester.
The universities submitted initial tuition and fee proposals on Wednesday, but the regents tossed them back because most included much larger increases in campus fees.
The bigger fee hikes would have pushed the total increase to students at most of the schools above 4 percent and as high as 6.2 percent at Emporia State University.
KU initially proposed a $252 total increase, $64 more than the amount approved Thursday.
At Kansas State University, tuition for new, full-time undergraduate Kansans will go up $158 per semester on the Manhattan campus.
Board chairman Kenny Wilk said capping all increases at 3.6 percent was critical to state legislators keeping funding at its current level.
Annual state funding for higher education is currently $790 million, with $590 million going to operate the six public universities.
“I hope that we are able to preserve that block grant,” Wilk said. “The board has honored both the letter and the spirit of what was requested of us.”
Fred Logan said that while he too was pleased to see the universities stay within the cap, “I think that in the future it would be best if it’s the Board of Regents, and not the legislators, that set tuition and fees.”
For the past 15 years, Logan said, setting tuition and fees has been a board responsibility.
Logan’s term on the board expires this month along with the terms of Wilk and Robba Moran. Thursday was their last board meeting.
The details
The increases in tuition and fees for residents and the cost per semester this fall:
University of Kansas: Up $188.46 to $5,412.25. (These are numbers for students who sign up for a compact that freezes tuition for four years. Most students take that option. For those who don’t, tuition and fees will go up $174.96, and the total cost this fall will be $5,028.25.)
University of Kansas Medical Center: Up $169.27 to $4,951.47.
K-State: Up $157.60 to $4,674.80.
K-State Salina: Up $139.38 to $4,397.04
Wichita State: Up $130.80 to $3,763.80.
Emporia State: Up $106.25 to $3,069.25.
Pittsburg State: Up $109 to $3,134.
Fort Hays State: Up $71.70 to $2,305.95.
This story was originally published June 18, 2015 at 3:31 PM with the headline "Regents approve tuition and fee increases for KU, K-State and other Kansas schools."