Kent State tuition to increase 3.5 percent in fall

Staff report

KENT

Student tuition at Kent State University will increase 3.5 percent this fall.

The university’s trustee board approved the increase Wednesday, noting it was done in response to a decline in state funding for higher education.

The tuition increase was necessary to enable Kent to continue its multifaceted efforts to provide students with a high-caliber educational experience, the university said in a prepared statement.

Undergraduate tuition at the main campus will increase by $152 per semester to $4,515, and graduate tuition will rise by $162 per semester to $4,803.

At the regional campuses, undergraduate tuition will rise to $2,555 per semester for lower-division students and $2,994 for upper-division students. For graduates, the rate will be the same as main campus’ at $4,803.

The board also increased the surcharge for out-of-state students by 3.5 percent to $3,980 per semester, but special nonresident rates for students from Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia remain in effect, giving them an 80 percent reduction in the nonresident surcharge.

The tuition increase will help fund the 2010-11 budget also approved by the trustees Wednesday.

Spending will total $544.2 million, up from the $490.7 million budget enacted one year ago for the eight-campus system.