By Howard Packowitz
NORMAL – Illinois State University administrators want to freeze tuition next school year for incoming undergraduate students who live in Illinois, even as the school contends with historical declines in financial support from state government.
ISU is holding the line on tuition a year after imposing a 3.75 percent tuition increase that took effect this school year. The university froze tuition in 2017.
ISU’s Board of Trustees is expected to vote Friday morning on a proposal to keep tuition at $384.13 per credit hour for in-state undergrads.
Under the state’s Truth-in-Tuition law, that rate won’t change for those students until the summer of 2023.
In a report to the board, administrators said setting tuition is complex process due to declines in state financial support and the lack of predictability of the state government’s budget process.
Student fees would increase by $10, or 12 percent, per credit hour next school year.
The overall cost of attending ISU would be up 1.3 percent or $316, including a previously approved $16 per year increase for an optional student health insurance plan.
Total cost for a full-time student next year is $24,682.
University trustees are scheduled to meet Friday at 9 a.m. at ISU’s Bone Student Center.
Howard Packowitz can be reached at howard.packowitz@cumulus.com
