The University of Minnesota Board of Regents voted Wednesday to increase tuition on campuses. Outgoing President Eric Kaler had recommended a 2.5 percent increase for undergraduate resident students at the Twin Cities Campus and 1.5 percent increases for the Crookston, Duluth, Morris, and Rochester campuses.
University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Finance Director Trisha Sanders says that increase amounts to about $156 a year. “That means that the students will see an increase in tuition of about $156 a year, which is minimal,” said Sanders. “The board requested that we keep our tuition increases below three percent. The reason the increase was needed was the State of Minnesota only funded half of what was requested. We’ll use these dollars to back-fill the state support reduction.”
Room and board fees are also increasing 3.2 percent for the Crookston campus, which was initiated by the student government’s desire to have the cost of laundry included in the price. “Our resident hall fees are going up about three percent,” said Sanders. “The bulk of that increase is due to the fact students now won’t have to pay for laundry. They’ll have laundry services included in their housing rate, which was an initiative this year from student government. They didn’t want to have to worry about getting quarters and change and all of that.”
The campus fee (technology fee) also increases by 5 percent or $50, while the Student Services fee will go down 1.1 percent with the intramural fee and wellness center fee combined into one. In total Sanders said the cost of attendance will be up 2.3 percent or $477 for the year. “The total cost of attendance is going up 2.3 percent,” said Sanders. “That cost of attendance includes tuition, student service fee, technology fee, and room and board.”
Sanders said financial aid is based on the cost of attendance, so students will be eligible to apply for increased financial aid. “The cost of attendance will increase with the increase in tuition and student fees,” said Sanders. “Students can apply for aid up to the cost of attendance amount so they will have the opportunity to request additional financial aid.”
The total cost of attendance for the 2019-20 academic year will be $21,057.
