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June 23, 2005

BOARD OF REGENTS APPROVES STATE UNIVERSITY TUITION RATES

((TOPEKA) – Today the Kansas Board of Regents established the tuition rates for the six state universities for the 2005-2006 academic year.

“Tuition remains a bargain in Kansas,” said Reginald L. Robinson, President and CEO of the Board of Regents. “Tuition rates are rapidly rising across the nation, but Kansas universities are still a bargain when compared to the national and regional averages.”

A recent study conducted by the Kansas Board of Regents compared the tuition and fee rates of Kansas’ six state universities to institutions in other states for the recently concluded 2004-2005 academic year. The results of the study indicate that tuition and fee rates in Kansas are considerably lower than the national and regional averages. Resident tuition and fees at Kansas State University, the University of Kansas and Wichita State University, the state’s three research universities, are 27% below the national average and 17% below the regional average, while resident tuition and fees at Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University and Pittsburg State University, the state’s three regional universities, are 49% below the national average and 40% below the regional average.

“The Board of Regents is always reluctant to enhance tuition rates,” said Dick Bond, Chair of the Kansas Board of Regents. “We certainly recognize the heavy financial burden hard-working students and their families must bear as students pursue the education that is vital for their own, and this state’s, future. However, tuition enhancements are necessary if we are to maintain the high quality of education that Kansans deserve and demand.”

In May the Board received tuition proposals from the six state universities that were developed through participation and input from a variety of campus constituent groups.

“Students have been actively and meaningfully involved in the tuition-setting process, and the degree of student participation has certainly been impressive,” said Donna Shank, Vice Chair of the Kansas Board of Regents. “That level of student engagement and buy-in has been critically important as we have considered these tuition proposals.”

“These tuition enhancements have not emerged in a vacuum,” said Regent Nelson Galle. “Today’s difficult fiscal realities are driving the need.”

State higher education funding per student has decreased steadily since 1991. The six state universities received almost $1000 less in Fiscal Year 2004 per full time equivalent student than they received in Fiscal Year 1991. In addition, over the same time period, the state’s contribution to university operating budgets fell from almost 48% to just over 31%.

“The six state universities are moving aggressively to cut costs, achieve efficiencies and broaden their funding base to respond to enrollment increases and the reduced share of state funding,” Bond added. “Unfortunately, however, tuition enhancements are necessary to preserve the quality of what these institutions produce for Kansas.”

“Tuition rates at Kansas universities continue to provide Kansans with an exceptional educational value,” Robinson added. “A state university education in Kansas is a great buy when compared regionally and nationally.”

Established in 1925, the nine-member Kansas Board of Regents is the governing board of the state's six public universities and a supervising and coordinating board for nineteen community colleges, four technical schools, six technical colleges and a municipal university.

See pdf chart for the approved 2005-2006 academic year tuition rates.

2005-2006 academic year tuition rates PDF

For more information contact:
Kip Peterson, Director for Government Relations & Communications, at (785) 296-3421.

Visit the Kansas Board of Regents on the Web at www.kansasregents.org.