Wayne State Still Michigan’s Best Overall Value

July 25, 2007 – In an effort to preserve both excellence and affordability in the wake of a $23.2 million cut in state funding, Wayne State University’s Board of Governors today increased tuition by 12.8 percent over last year.

“The Board of Governors has made a difficult decision, but under the circumstances raising tuition was their only reasonable alternative,” said Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid. “As long as state government is not willing to do its part to support higher education in Michigan, we are forced to find other ways to maintain the quality of our academic programs. We have cut expenditures throughout the university to keep this tuition increase as low as possible, but now we have to turn to our students and their families for help.”

Under this tuition plan, in FY2008 a Michigan resident freshman will pay $226.05 per credit hour, compared to $200.40 per credit hour last year, an increase of $25.65.

In spite of this increase, Wayne State still has tuition rates below average for Michigan’s public universities, and significantly less than either of the state’s other two public research universities. 

“Wayne State’s tuition increase is low relative to other Michigan public universities in terms of actual dollars,” said Robert Kohrman, assistant vice president in Wayne State’s budget office. “In addition, this increase is partly offset by the fact that, on average, 27 cents of every tuition dollar received by Wayne State is put into financial aid. This is one of the highest proportions among Michigan’s public universities.”

The adopted proposal also calls for a contingency fee of $13 per credit hour to help Wayne State guard against additional shortfalls if the university does not receive any or all of the $20 million in deferred state monies by the due date of October 17, 2007. The contingency fee will be discontinued for the winter semester if the state reimburses as promised.

“We deeply regret any necessary increases in tuition,” said President Reid, “but I am convinced that the excellence of Wayne State’s faculty and educational programs, as well as our leadership in technology and research, continue to make us the state’s best educational value.”

For more information visit: http://wsu.wayne.edu/tuition/

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to nearly 33,000 students.