Incoming students at SIU Carbondale will pay three percent more next year, while new students in Edwardsville will see a nine percent bump in tuition.
SIU Trustees approved the tuition increases Thursday in Edwardsville. Interim SIUC Chancellor Brad Colwell says they tried to keep the increase as low as possible – including a flat fee schedule for all students next year.
“Because we needed to send that message, and quite frankly – we did it through fees, to say ‘We hear what you’re saying.’”
SIU President Randy Dunn says part of the reason tuition rates keep going up every year is that universities must hold tuition rates level once a student enters school – which makes planning for the future tough.
“What you’re trying to do, in setting that tuition rate, is to guess what those fixed rate increases are going to be – and strategic initiatives, even – are going to be five years out.”
SIU Carbondale is not changing the overall mandatory student fees all students pay. Edwardsville’s fees are going up two-point-eight percent.