EAST LANSING - Michigan State University trustees froze tuition rates for incoming freshmen this fall and approved plans to institute a block tuition structure for the 2019-2020 school year.
Tuition for freshmen will stay at the $482 per credit hour. For most sophomores, juniors and seniors, rates will go up by $12 per credit hour, an increase of about 2.5% for sophomores and 2.2% for upperclassmen. The rate of increase is the same for out-of-state freshmen, according to budget guidelines presented at Friday's Board of Trustees meeting.
Juniors and seniors enrolled in the College of Business or the College of Engineering will pay an extra $18 per credit hour, an increase of about 3% for engineers and 3.2% for business majors.
Interim President John Engler justified the rate increases by noting that salaries for College of Business and College of Engineering grads were $59,503 and $66,495, respectively. The average starting salary for graduates is about $53,000.
Most graduate students will pay about 4% more in tuition and fees in the coming year.
The bigger changes are coming in the 2019-20 academic year, when tuition rates for all undergrads will be frozen and a new rate structure rolled out.
Students will be billed on a block rate if they take between 12 and 18 credits. Freshmen will pay $7,230 per semester, while sophomores will pay $7,410 per semester, the same rates they'll pay in 2018 for 15 credits. Juniors and seniors in engineering or business programs will pay $8,595 per semester while their counterparts in other colleges will pay $8,325.
Those taking fewer will pay the 2018-19 rate per hour, and those taking more will pay per credit at 19 credits and above. The block tuition structure. won't apply to graduate students and resident medical students.
The changes to tuition rates are meant to encourage students to take more credits and complete their degrees sooner, Engler said during the meeting.
Contact RJ Wolcott at (517) 377-1026 or rwolcott@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @wolcottr.
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