Colorado State University will increase tuition and fees for all students on the Fort Collins campus for the Fiscal Year 2019, as approved by the CSU Board of Governors Tuesday morning.
For resident undergraduate students, this means a 3 percent increase in tuition, bringing next fall’s base tuition to $9,426. Non-resident undergraduates will see a 2.5 percent tuition increase, bringing out-of-state tuition to $27,327.
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The board approved a range of tuition hikes for students from 2.5 percent to 5 percent. Tuition rates do not include general fee increases, which will add about $2,000 to the overall cost of attendance for both undergraduate and graduate students.
With fees and tuition combined, the total 2018-2019 cost of attendance for full-time resident undergraduate students will total $24,133. The CSU Fort Collins FY2019 operating budget will be $1.22 billion.
University President Tony Frank said the original proposition by the Board at the August meeting, including the tuition increase of 3 percent, is extremely close to the approved budget changes.
“This year’s budget has been, to date, very stable,” Frank said. “I think these budgets strike a good balance between quality and affordability. They deliver on our duty to deliver on excellence as a land-grant university.”
Base Tuition Rates Per Semester, effective fall 2018:
- Resident Undergraduate: $9,426 (3 percent increase = $275)
- Non-Resident Undergraduate: $27,327 (2.5 percent increase = $667)
- Resident Graduate: $10,214 (3 percent increase = $297)
- Non-Resident Graduate: $25,040 (3 percent increase = $729)
- Resident Veterinary Medical Program: $33,028 (5 percent increase = $1,573)
- Non-Resident Veterinary Medical Program: $56,600 (2 percent increase = $1,110)
The board also approved the proposed student fee increases for all students. Resident undergraduate and graduate students taking 12 credit-hours can expect to see a general fee total of about $2,281. This is a 1.7 percent increase compared to last year’s rate of $2,243. For the veterinary medical program, general fees increased by 3.8 percent to a total of $2,654 in general fees.
The Student Fee Review Board, chaired by Associated Students of Colorado State University Vice President Cole Wise, proposed a student fee increase of $18.82, a 1.7 percent increase from the 2017-2018 school year. Last year, the fee increase was 1.34 percent, one of the lowest increases in the last 10 years. These increases are largely driven by mandatory costs such as the increased minimum wage, Wise said.
General Fee Totals proposed by SFRB for 2018-2019, based off of 15 credit-hours:
- Full-time, on-campus students: $1,202.56
- Full-time, off-campus students: $480.07
- Part-time, on-campus students: $312.54
- Part-time, off-campus students: $206.34
Room and board will increase by about 3.8 percent to an average total of $12,426, compared to last year’s cost of $11,974. Likewise, dining will see a 2.7 percent increase. These changes are based on rising maintenance costs balanced against rates both in the private sector and at other public universities, according to the CSU budget schedule.
In addition, differential tuition will increase by $2 for all departments on campus. Differential tuition is a per-credit-hour fee charged to students according to the specific charges they take after reaching 60 credit hours, or 30 credit hours in the College of Business.
In order to determine differential tuition, each college is classified at a different level:
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Level I: $55 (Last year $53)
- College of Agricultural Sciences
- College of Health and Human Sciences
- College of Liberal Arts
- Warner College of Natural Resources
- Intra-University
Level II: $72 (Last year $70)
- College of Natural Sciences
- College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Level III: $95 (Last year $93)
- College of Business
- College of Engineering
Due to the state of Colorado’s budget for higher education, resident and undergraduate tuition rate increases will be capped at 3 percent for the CSU System. Although this budget was approved on Tuesday, if there are any significant changes to the state budget, the Board of Governors will meet again in June to discuss whether any budgetary adjustments are necessary.
Collegian reporter Natalia Sperry can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @Natalia_Sperry.
