The Kansas Board of Regents is on board with Emporia State University keeping its tuition rates flat for another year.
Board of Regents members approved the tuition request as part of their monthly meeting Wednesday. ESU President Matt Baker says he’s pleased with the board’s decision.
Student affordability has been a watchword for years in postsecondary settings, and Baker says it’s as important now as it has ever been.
ESU’s proposal involves a full-time semester cost of just under $2,800 for resident undergraduates and nearly $7,000 per semester for non-resident undergraduates. For resident graduates, the per-semester cost is just over $3,400. The non-resident graduate semester cost is almost $8,600.
Total fees, meanwhile, go up $3 for resident students and stay flat for non-resident students. This means the total per-semester cost for tuition and fees is as follows:
*Resident undergraduate: $3,610.74
*Non-resident undergraduate: $7,764.24
*Resident graduate: $4,467.48
*Non-resident graduate: $9,623.40
This marks the third straight year, fifth year out of the last six and sixth year out of the last eight that ESU has kept tuition flat and fees virtually flat for students. However, it also comes as ESU has also seen tuition revenues decline every year since 2020, including an 8-percent year-to-year decline in fiscal 2022 and a 9.3-year-to-year dip in fiscal 2024. Baker anticipates the focus will shift from flat tuition to marginal increases down the road.
ESU is projecting a 9.5-percent increase in tuition revenue for fiscal 2027 beginning July 1.
Regardless, Baker says decisions like this can lead to positive, “life-changing” experiences for students, even well after they graduate.
Separately, the Board of Regents approved ESU’s five-year facility plan involving over $55 million in projects, including:
*Remodeling the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Building at a cost of over $15 million
*New facility for the east side of Welch Stadium at an estimated cost of over $11 million
*New construction for hot water and steam heat conversion at an estimated cost of over $14 million
*Remodeling the Student Success One Stop at a cost of $5 million
*Renovation of the King Hall theater and an addition for art projects at a cost of nearly $5 million
*Demolishing Morse South and Morse Southeast at an estimated cost of around $2.8 million
*Relocating the ESU soccer pitch with new turf at a cost estimate of $2 million
